WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION, BOSTON DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH STUDIES IN ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF WOMEN VOLUME I. Vocations for the Trained Woman. Opportunities other than Teaching. Edited by Agnes F. Perkins. 8vo., $1.20 net. Postage extra. VOLUME II. Labor Laws and Their Enforcement, with Special Reference to Massachusetts. By Charles E. Persons, Mabel Parton, Mabelle Moses and Three "Fellows." Edited by Susan M. Kingsbury, Ph.D. 8vo., $2.00 net. Postage extra. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND Co. NEW YORK, LONDON, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION BOSTON DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH STUDIES IN ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF WOMEN VOLUME I Copyright, 1910, by WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION BOSTON, MASS. GEO. H. ELLIS CO., PRINTERS, BOSTON, MASS. VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN OPPORTUNITIES OTHER THAN TEACHING INTRODUCTORY PAPERS EDITED BY AGNES F. PERKINS, A.M. M WELLESLEY COLLEGE LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK LONDON, BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA 1910 PREFACE This book is the outgrowth of a conviction that many women who are unfitted for teaching drift into it because it is the voca- tion with which they are most familiar; that the teaching which results is injurious to both teacher and pupil; that many who make poor teachers might become able workers if wisely guided into other fields. To suggest to such women, and to others about to choose an occupation, some lines of work now open to them and the equipment which they should have to justify a hope of success in any given line, is the purpose of the following papers. The work was begun by Miss Mabel Parton, Director of the Research Department of the Women's Educational and In- dustrial Union, 1906 to 1909, with the co-operation of Miss Annie Marion MacLean, Professor of Sociology, Adelphi Col- lege, Brooklyn, representing The Inter-Municipal Research Com- mittee. Two research fellows were to gather facts from rep- resentative men and women engaged in various occupations in Boston and New York, and their reports were to furnish ma- terial for the book. The articles by Miss Gertrude Marvin in the present volume represent the beginning of the investigation in Boston, which was made possible by the generous contribution of the late Mr. Henry S. Grew and of Mrs. Henry Pickering. As it soon became evident, however, that thorough studies must involve longer time and more labor than was then available, the plan was modified. An English publication, "The Finger Post, a Guide to the Professions and Occupations of Educated Women," suggested a series of articles by specialists, and this idea was at once followed up by Miss Parton in Boston and Miss MacLean in New York. When, later, serious illness obliged Miss Parton to with- draw wholly from the work, a general editor became a necessity; and with the continued interest and aid of Miss MacLean, the added help of Miss Marion Parris, Associate in Economics at Bryn Mawr College, and the assistance of the many who have 259749 vi PREFACE generously contributed papers, the following articles have been brought together under the title "Introductory Papers." It is the further intention of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union to publish, under the direction of the Research Department, a series of studies in fields of work here outlined. The articles in this book, written largely by men and women at work in Boston and New York, or the two States, Massachusetts and New York, represent the situation in these two sections. It is obvious, then, that local conditions must be taken into account in reading them. The personal point of view must also be reck- oned with. Articles giving individual views of given fields for which statistics cannot be got without elaborate investigation are, in their very nature, personal and in danger of being prejudiced. The different sections cannot, then, definitely figure the facts. They do, however, suggest clearly enough the present possibilities for women in various occupations. Each contributor has been asked to cover the following topics: the nature of the work, the training necessary or desirable, the opportunities and compensation, maximum, minimum, and aver- age. The sections have been arranged according to the kind of training that leads to the different occupations or to the nature the work itself. The better known professions law, medi- cine, architecture have of necessity been omitted, to make room for vocations less known and less easily inquired into. The field of arts and crafts has also been left undeveloped, be- cause every inquiry has brought the warning that "it is only the exceptional genius or the craftsman with exceptional training who can, at the present time, earn a living wage by the artistic crafts, without giving time and vitality to teaching the craft." It has seemed wise, however, to include a few special forms of teaching for which the demand is great and the supply inadequate. In some articles mention is made of sources from which further information may be obtained. Questions bearing upon the pos- sibilities of work in any given occupation may be sent to the Appointment Bureau of the Women's Educational and Indus- trial Union, 264 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts, which has been established for the purpose of directing trained women into vocations other than teaching. CONTENTS PAGE I. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE. Opportunities for Women Trained in Research. SUSAN M. KINGSBUBY 1 Civic SERVICE. Civil Service MARION PARRIS 4 Police Matron Service . . . ALICE L. WOODBRIDGE 8 Probation Work MAUDE E. MINER 9 Probation Work in the Juvenile Court. IRENE COWAN MARSHALL 13 State Child Saving MARY W. DEWSON 14 State Reformatory Work for Girls and Women. KATHARINE BEMENT DAVIS 16 State Charities Aid Work .... MARY VIDA CLARK 18 Playground Work JOSEPH LEE 20 Social Centre Work EDWARD J. WARD 25 Economic Research SUSAN M. KINGSBURY 28 Municipal Research WILLIAM H. ALLEN 30 SOCIAL SERVICE. Work in the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor HALLE D. WOODS 33 Work in the Organized Charities. MARY GRACE WORTHINGTON 36 Child Saving C. C. CARSTENS, Ph.D. 40 Medical Social Service . . RICHARD C. CABOT, M.D. 42 GARNET ISABEL PELTON 45 Rent Collecting .... LILIAN MARCHANT SKINNER 49 BLANCHE GEARY 55 Settlement Work ROBERT A. WOODS 56 MARY KINGSBURY SIMKHOVITCH 58 Welfare Work. From the Point of View of the Business House ... 63 Young Women's Christian Association Work. ELIZABETH WILSON 68 Nursing LILLIAN D. WALD 71 viu CONTENTS PAGE II. SCIENTIFIC WORK. Work for Women Trained in Chemistry. JAMES F. NORRIS 74 Work for Women Trained in Biology. PERCY G. STILES 76 Museum Work 79 III. DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS. DOMESTIC SCIENCE. The Field of Domestic Science .... HELEN KINNE 81 The Institutional Dietitian . FLORENCE R. CORBETT 85 The Visiting Dietitian . . WINIFRED STUART GIBBS 87 Institutional Management . . . JULIET C. PATTERSON 89 Hotels, Restaurants, Catering Establishments. GERTRUDE L. MARVIN 92 Lunch-room Management . . . BERTHA STEVENSON 96 Laundry Work GRACE G. WHITE 97 DOMESTIC ARTS. The Field of Domestic Arts. Compiled from Notes by Mrs. NELLY HATTERSLEY 100 Dressmaking AGNES HINDS 107 JANE FALES 111 Millinery C. LOTHROP HIGGINS 113 EVELYN SMITH TOBEY 116 Interior Decoration . . . CELESTE WEED ALLBRIGHT 119 IV. AGRICULTURE. Agricultural Occupations A. R. MANN 122 KENYON L. BUTTERFIELD 131 General Farming K. C. LIVERMORE 133 JEAN KANE FOULKE 143 Dairy Farming CHARLOTTE BARRELL WARE 146 Poultry Farming WILLIAM P. BROOKS 151 Bee-keeping JAMES B. PAIGE 152 Market-gardening H. F. TOMPSON 154 PERSIS BARTHOLOMEW 157 Floriculture E. A. WHITE 158 Small Fruit-growing F. C. SEARS 160 Landscape Gardening BEATRIX JONES 'Ifi^ Forestry MIRA L. DOCK 163 CONTENTS ix PAGE V. BUSINESS. Advertising . . . . 168 Work in Department Stores . GERTRUDE L. MARVIN 173 y Buying in Department Stores . . RALPH ALBERTSON - 186 *- Banking ELEANOR B. RICHARDSON 188 GERTRUDE UNDERBILL 191 M. LOUISE ERWIN 194 Real Estate Mrs. M. E. ALEXANDER 195 Insurance EDNA B. LEWIS 198 VI. CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK. Clerical and Secretarial Work, SARAH LOUISE ARNOLD 201 HELEN M. KELSEY 206 Private Secretary Work . ANNE PILLSBURY ANDERSON 209 Secretary Work in the Business Office. ALICE HARRIET GRADY 210 TIL LITERARY WORK. Library Work .... JOSEPHINE ADAMS RATHBONE 215 Library Training MARY ESTHER ROBBINS 221 Newspaper Work GERTRUDE L. MARVIN 227 . AGNES E. RYAN 236 Free Lancing MINNIE J. REYNOLDS 241 Work in a Publishing House . . . EDITH A. WINSHIP 244 JESSIE REID 248 Magazine Work JAMES E. TOWER 250 Indexing JULIA E. ELLIOTT 258 Translating HELOISE BRAINERD 261 VIII. ART. Illustrating and Fashion Drawing 264 Commercial Designing 268 Museum Work ELIZABETH M. GARDINER 270 IX. SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING. Vocational Teaching . . FLORENCE M. MARSHALL 273 Training in Salesmanship . . LUCINDA W. PRINCE 277 Teaching Mental Defectives. CORA ELIZABETH WOOD 281 WALTER E. FERNALD, M.D. 283 Physical Education AMY M. HOMANS 285 Corrective Work in Physical Education. ROBERT W. LOVETT, M.D. 288 INDEX 293 I SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE WOMEN TRAINED IN RESEARCH SUSAN M. KINGSBURY DIRECTOR OF THE RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION, BOSTON Professor John R. Commons has well stated the function of research: "The motto of academic research is * truth for its own sake,' regardless of the practical uses to which it can be put. . . . In the infancy of a science, when its practical applications are unsuspected, or on the fringes of a science where the applications are in doubt, investigations can have no other aim than the dis- covery of truth for its own sake. . . . But when a science has been developed, when its applications are being made, when the world is eager for its utility, when hundreds of investigators have fallen in line, research must set up a new aim, truth for the sake of practice. . . . The science of political economy and sociology is now being called upon for something practical. Legislation has been left to the lawyers and the politicians. . . . Take the great questions of the day that are pressing for solution : the regu- lation of public utilities, the revision of the currency, the revision of the tariff, and many others. They are economic and not merely legal questions. But when the committee of the Wis- consin Legislature settled down to work out a bill for the regula- tion of public utility on an economic basis they could find but little in the writings of the economists that indicated to them what they should do. On that and other subjects the science remains in its academic stage, long after it has been called upon for con- structive work." (Charities and the Commons, October, 1908.) The result has been a demand upon economists and sociologists for students equipped to secure, to assemble, to classify, and 2 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN especially to interpret facts in their relation one to the other and in their wider application. Opportunities in this field may be classified as positions in scientific research, social research, political and municipal research, and economic research. Her taste for a field of activity should be the first subject for consideration by a student who is about to choose a career; and, if she is then inclined to direct her efforts within that field to re- search, her natural ability for such work should control her de- cision. An intense desire to seek the truth, and the power to cleave to the truth, unwillingness to accept a verdict unless clearly proved, and to insist upon cumulative testimony before accepting the evidence as conclusive; powers of concentration and "of infinite pains"; ability to understand a situation from the point of view of another rather than from one's own experi- ence, a certain type of imagination, and to conceive of every kind of procedure to secure information, another type of imagi- nation, these are the essential qualifications for success in re- search, whatever the field of activity. While the opportunities for research in any one subject are not wide, the character of the work and the ability demanded for its accomplishment are similar in all. It is, therefore, the function of this introductory note to suggest that training may be such as to enable the young woman qualified for research to enter one of two fields in which openings may occur. For example, a woman particularly interested in biology, who is unable to complete a thorough graduate course, or who enjoys greater activ- ity than that afforded by laboratory work, may well secure a background in economic subjects and in government, and take up such an occupation as that of sanitary inspector under a board of health. Indeed, it may be questioned whether a system of majors and minors is not essential for the highest specialization, affording powers for more intensive work, and at the same time being opportune in case of a limitation in number of more scien- tific positions available. A classification of the subjects in which occupations for re- search may occur may be helpful, a discussion of each subject being presented in connection with the papers in this section and in the following section on science : SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 3 I. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH may be subdivided into: 1. Chemical research, training for which would lead to positions in chemical laboratories or assistantships to chemists, positions in manufactories where a knowledge of investigation is important, or posi- tions of investigators in pure-food laboratories. 2. Pathological research, training for which would pre- pare for positions in hospitals and physicians' offices. 3. Hygienic research, or Sanitary research, training for which would prepare women for positions in lab- oratories of investigation in connection with medi- cine, feeding of children, physical training, die- tetics, sanitation, pure-food inspection. II. SOCIAL RESEARCH seems to be concerned with the daily life of the people, their pleasures, their social rela- tions, their education, their home-making capacity. Investigations in this field, therefore, would deal more largely with educational, ethical, psychological, and social principles than with economic principles. Training, especially where combined with prepa- ration in educational or industrial processes or eco- nomics, may therefore lead to positions in: 1. Charity organizations. 2. Educational work, such as teaching of industrial and trade subjects in settlements. 3. Pure social work, such as social secretaries, welfare managers in factories or stores, club leaders, set- tlement workers, agents in juvenile courts, chil- dren's aid societies, and other institutions for cor- rection of social conditions. III. MUNICIPAL AND POLITICAL RESEARCH has as its function investigation of the administration of public funds and public affairs. It has, therefore, legal and judi- cial character, and concerns itself with economy in public affairs and with public education. Training for such research would probably not open up ad- ministrative and executive positions which are apt t VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN to be those at the disposal of the public, but would prepare for research in the restrictive institutions of the law and the public corrective institutions, al- though such training might well fit a woman who had had a secretarial or commercial education for assist- ants' positions in the public offices or for civic posi- tions. IV. ECONOMIC RESEARCH is concerned with one of three or perhaps more phases of the protection and promo- tion of the people in their money-getting and money- spending capacity. Training in economic research may lead toward pure research work, or toward ad- ministrative positions requiring ability to pursue or direct lines of research in connection with the duties of the position, or toward positions of leadership or of correction requiring knowledge of economic condi- tions. CIVIC SERVICE WOMEN IN THE CIVIL SERVICE MARION PARRIS ASSOCIATE IN ECONOMICS, BBTN MAWB COLLEGE A promising area of activity is opening for women in the Federal, State, and Municipal Civil Service. Since the passage of the Civil Service Law in 1883, women have taken ad- vantage of this opening in ever-increasing numbers. In 1880 but 3.1 per cent, of all federal officials were women; in 1890 the proportion had risen to 5.9 per cent.; in 19QO, to 9.4 per cent., or 8,119 women office-holders as compared with 78,488 men. The Census of 1910 will probably show the proportion of women to be 15 per cent, or over. The Civil Service Commissioner reports that "the percentage of women is highest in the Depart- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 5 ment of the Interior, being 31; in the Government Printing Office it is 29, in the Department of Agriculture it is 19, and in the Treasury Department 15. In other departments and independent offices the percentage and the absolute number of women is so small as to be of little interest." The Bureau of Labor and the Immigration Bureau offer positions of unusual interest to women interested in economic and sociological prob- lems, and opportunities for doing special research work along many lines. This is also true of the Bureau of Corporations, which up to the present time, however, has been closed to women. According to occupation, the majority of women office-holders have held clerical positions: 7,346, or 7.2 per cent., of the Gov- ernment clerks are women; 159, or 2.4 per cent., of the profes- sional, technical, and scientific experts are women; 24, or 1.4 per cent., of the Government executive positions are held by women; 90, or 1.3 per cent., of the employees engaged in mechani- cal occupations are women; while women holding sub-clerical or laboring positions number 5,461, or 20.3 per cent, of all per- sons so employed. More than half of the women federal officials, or 51.7 per cent., are located in the District of Columbia, while only 13.7 per cent, of the men officials have their headquarters at the Capitol. So as far as women are concerned, the federal posts away from Washington have been relatively unimportant. As to salaries, Mr. Folz in "The Federal Civil Service as a Career" states that "the pay of a woman office-holder is con- siderably more than that received for parallel services elsewhere. . . . The highest pay of women office-holders runs from $1600 to $2000 a year. The positions paying such salaries entail con- siderable ability, either educational or executive; they include such posts as those of translator, law clerk, librarian, fore- woman, superintendent, expert statistician, stenographer, in- spector, director, mathematician, and similar places, which in business life pay from $1200-$1500 a year. ... In matters of promotion, women's chances are also quite equal to men's up to $1800, beyond which sum women seldom rise. . . . The limit of promotion appears to end abruptly and unequivocally at $2000, which figure few attain." 6 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN In the report of the Civil Service Commissioner for 1903-04 the following salaries are quoted: Of the 13,322 women holding federal positions, 6,333 received less than $720 per annum. 941 " between $720- 840 " " 172 " " 840- 900 " " 1,066 " " 900-1,000 " " 1,094 " " 1,000-1,200 " " 1,114 " " 1,200-1,400 " " 400 " " 1,400-1,600 " " 110 " " 1,600-1,800 " " 17 " $1,800 and over. The opportunities for advancement according to Mr. Folz seem best in the following positions: 1. Government Engineers in the Coast Survey, Geodetic Survey, Geological Survey, and the Land Office. For these positions college and professional training is necessary, and the chances for promotion are good. 2. Technical Clerks specializing in botany, geology, geodesy, meteorology, statistics, zoology, entomology, medicine, archi- tecture, etc. For these positions a college education is a great ad- vantage, if not an absolute necessity. An ability to read French, German, Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, is an asset, as well as the almost indispensable knowledge of stenography and typewriting. 3. Government Stenographer, leading to such positions as chief clerk, executive secretary, and assistant secretary. 4. Government Editor and Censor of Correspondence in Govern- ment bureaus. This position requires special training in English composition, proof-reading, etc. 5. Government Translator. Just at present there is a special demand for students who can read the Oriental languages, espe- cially Chinese and Japanese. 6. Government Librarian, with some special training in cata- loguing, filing, and library methods. The salaries for these posi- tions range from $1,200 to $1,800. 7. Government Statistician, with special training in the gather- ing, tabulating, and analyzing of statistics. The salaries range from $1,200 to $3,000. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 7 8. Patent Investigator, for which a college education is absolutely necessary, and some special professional training highly desirable. The salaries for these positions range from $1,500 to $2,700. 9. Agricultural Expert, with some special knowledge of the chemistry of soils, horticulture, plant diseases, intensive farming methods, or forestry. These positions are continually growing in importance with the extension of the State Bureaus of Agri- culture and the instalment of research and experiment stations. Male agricultural experts receive $3,000 to $4,000 a year, and are in direct line for commanding more lucrative positions in pri- vate enterprises. The reviving interest in agriculture, especially on the part of women, seems likely in the immediate future to lead them to consider the federal offices, and to apply for them in greater numbers than in the past. The Federal Service, therefore, offers to women certain oppor- tunities for congenial work which should not be overlooked by the college graduate whose vocation is not teaching. The testi- mony of the women who are working in the government service seems to be that all bureaus and departments tend to advance their own people. Once the examinations are passed and the appointment received, advancement is certain, if not rapid. A college woman who is doing advanced research work in the Bureau of Labor writes: "Women stand a particularly good chance in Government work, because the salaries are not sufficiently large to induce the best men to enter the service, but are better than the salaries received by women in other non-federal callings. You have, therefore, capable women and less capable men in many Government positions." Candidates for Federal positions should write directly to the Civil Service Commission in Washington for a manual of ex- aminations, application blanks, and a schedule of dates and places where the examinations are held. Candidates should also plan to take the examinations at least a year and a half before they hope for an appointment, and, when it seems ad- visable, to present themselves for examination in the require- ments for more than one position. Opportunities for women in the State and Municipal Civil Service vary considerably according to State and city. Many 8 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN positions clerical, educational, literary, technical, administrative, and executive are open to women who pass competitive exami- nations. For definite information regarding the positions avail- able in any given State or city, it will be necessary to refer to the Civil Service Commission of that State or city or to the proper authorities in the department about which information is desired. THE SERVICE OF POLICE MATRONS ALICE L. WOODBRIDGE AGENT FOB THE WOMEN'S PRISON ASSOCIATION, NEW YORK The duties of police matrons are: to keep the prison in order after it has been thoroughly cleansed once a day by a cleaner; to search all women prisoners, conduct them to their cells, and guard them during their detention in the station house; to care for all sick and injured women pending the arrival of an ambu- lance; to search for identification the bodies of unknown dead; and to care for all lost women and children brought to the station. In the city of Greater New York police matrons are members of the uniformed force. They wear a uniform and shield, and are frequently called upon to do detective duty. There are 70 police matrons in the city of Greater New York. No openings occur except on the death, resignation, or dismissal of a matron, or upon the designation of an additional station house for the reception of women prisoners. Such openings are filled from an eligible list filed by the Civil Service Examiners once in four years. All persons included in this list must be at least thirty and not over forty-five years old. They must have passed a severe physical examination, and a mental test adapted to the ordinary standards of intelligence. No qualifications other than perfect physical condition, good moral character, and ordinary intelligence, are required, although a knowledge of languages counts in examination. As a new Civil Service list has recently been published, there will be no opportunity for examination for almost three years. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 9 Two matrons are assigned to each station house. These ma- trons alternate weekly between ten hours of day duty and fourteen hours night duty, but remain on duty twenty-four hours every other Sunday, in order to obtain two full Sundays off in the month. They are allowed one day of each month for rest. Newly appointed matrons serve three months' probation and are then duly appointed. The salary is $1,000 per year for all, re- gardless of time of appointment, with retirement on half -pay after twenty years of service. Police matrons who so desire may, however, continue in service for twenty-five years if found physi- cally and mentally able to perform their duties. The class and condition of the women prisoners brought to our station houses are such that any reformatory work among them is nearly or quite impossible, but women of high intelligence might be of invaluable assistance in looking after their physical needs. The position is unsuitable for a young woman because of the language and condition of the prisoners and the surroundings in the station; but the people of New York would be glad to see women in middle life, of high character and intelligence, above temptation, and imbued with a practical missionary spirit, seek these positions. WOMEN IN PROBATION WORK MAUDE E. MINER SECRETARY OP THE NEW YORK PROBATION ASSOCIATION Probation gives the convicted boy or girl, man or woman, a chance outside of an institution. It is a process of character- building under the guidance of a probation officer who is a coun- sellor and friend. CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. The probation officer is busy during the hours of the court session listening to the stories of defendants as they explain the circumstances which brought them into conflict with the law. 10 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Before deciding what is the best thing to do for the prisoner, it is necessary to know the whole story, and in investigating, the probation officer finds her way up the tenement stairs into hun- dreds of homes all over the city. If the conditions are favorable for helping the girl or woman without commitment to a reforma- tory, the probation officer recommends that leniency be shown. Sentence, or the execution of the sentence, is suspended, and the defendant may then be released under the care of the probation officer on condition that the probationer reports as directed by the magistrate and is of good behavior. During the probation period of three or six months the probation officer supervises her conduct, visits her at her home, and helps her in every way she can. In a single night from 50 to 150 girls and women may be seen passing before the bar of justice at the Night Court in New York City. Girls sixteen years of age and over arrested for intoxica- tion, larceny, fighting, associating with dissolute and vicious per- sons, and soliciting on the streets for purposes of prostitution, are brought to this court from all parts of Manhattan and the Bronx. To provide a temporary home for the many girls and women released on probation, who had no home or who were anxious to leave their wretched environment, Waverley House was opened, February 1, 1908, at 165 West 10th Street. Here the girls may stay for a few days, while the probation officer learns if their stories are true, arranges to send them to the hos- pital or to their homes in other cities, or finds suitable work for them. It gives an opportunity to win the girl's confidence, and at times to help in the prosecution of the one responsible for her downfall. The New York Probation Association, organ- ized in May, 1908, assumed the maintenance of Waverley House and arranged for a broader program of work. It now has an Employment Bureau for probationers, and July 1, 1909, opened a Summer Home to supplement the work at Waverley House. TRAINING FOR THE WORK. To enter as a paid probation officer in any city, it is essen- tial to have had experience or training in probation or a kindred SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 11 line of work. One needs to test her own ability, to know whether or not she is skilful in dealing with defective character and whether she is sufficiently interested in the work to devote herself to it. It is also necessary to know the charitable and institutional resources of the city in which one is to work. A course at the New York School of Philanthropy affords an ex- cellent opportunity for visiting different institutions and for get- ting an outlook over different kinds of social work and experience in the practical office details. Some students during their Senior year at college or during the summer months gain practical ex- perience in juvenile probation work by volunteering their services to the paid officials. Others, while studying at the School of Philanthropy or doing graduate work at the university or while engaged in settlement work, devote some time to volunteer pro- bation or parole work. There are reformatory institutions which welcome students just graduated from college as workers, and institutional experience of that kind is valuable as training for the position of probation officer. Experience for at least one year as a paid or volunteer worker in a society or institution dealing with delinquents, where there is opportunity for investi- gation and for personal work, is necessary for one who wishes to become a probation officer. PROBATION OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW YORK. In Greater New York there are 27 paid women probation officers, 24 of whom receive compensation from public funds. There are few openings for workers with juveniles in New York City, as there are no official probation officers in the Children's Court of the Borough of Manhattan. Two representatives of different societies, one a volunteer and the other a paid worker, are appointed to do probation work in the Children's Court of Brooklyn. There are 23 women probation officers for adults in the Magistrates' Courts, 8 in the Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx, and 15 in the Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Rich- mond. Appointments to the positions in the Magistrates' Courts are made from a civil service list resulting from a competitive examination held in February, 1906. According to civil ser- vice rules, appointments can be made from one list only 12 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN during a period of four years, so that another examination is due. There are 3 paid women probation officers in the trial courts of Special and General Sessions, one each in Special Sessions, Boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and one in the Court of General Sessions, Manhattan. Some of the organizations which aid in probation work employ women workers, the Brooklyn Juvenile Probation Association, the Catholic Probation League, and the New York Probation Association. New openings for probation officers occur constantly in other cities and counties of New York State, and examinations are held from time to time as provision for salaries is made. Buf- falo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Yonkers, and several other cities have paid probation officers. Altogether there are in New York State 305 men and women probation officers, including both salaried and volunteer workers, over 100 of whom are either publicly or privately salaried. SALARIES. The salaries paid to probation officers in the Magistrates* Courts of New York City are not commensurate with the char- acter of work that should be required. Eighteen women receive $900 per year, and five $600 per year. The salary of the two women probation officers in the Courts of Special Sessions, Boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, is $1,200. In other cities in the State the salaries range from $600 to $1,200 per year. The highest salary paid to a woman probation officer in New York State is $1,200. The real value of probation work has not yet been fully rec- ognized, and where there is one opening in the field to-day, within five years there will be twenty or more. It remains for those who are doing the work to do it so efficiently that cities will amply provide for it in their budgets of expense and that every State will have on its statute books probation laws for juveniles and adults. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 13 PROBATION WORK IN THE JUVENILE COURT IRENE COWAN MARSHALL FOKMERLT PROBATION OFFICER, PITTSBURQ Pennsylvania law provides for probation for adults tried in Criminal Court and for children under sixteen tried in Juvenile Court. In Allegheny County, probation work is done only in Juvenile Court. It is the duty of the probation officer to investigate all cases before the hearing in court. In a given case the officer must learn the home conditions of the child, the character of his parents, neighborhood conditions, his school or work record, and, in fact, anything and everything that will enable her to understand what has made the child what he is. The probation officer must inves- tigate the prosecutor's side of the story, and be able to give the court an accurate, impartial statement of the case. When, as is generally done with a "first offender" if the home conditions are at all possible, the child is returned to his home on probation, the officer must look after him, become a friend of the family, and in every way possible help and encourage the child to do what is right. She must report to the court the progress' of the child. Work of this kind requires unlimited patience, an equal amount of good judgment, and very great tact, with no small amount of courage. It is work that becomes so interesting as to make the hard places seem easy, but a strong constitution, equal to the strain of great responsibility, is necessary. No previous training for the work has been required on the part of a new probation officer. She works a month on trial for $40, then, if suited to the work, is appointed probation officer by the court at a salary of $700 per year. The second year she receives $780, the third year $840, and the fourth year $900, when all advance ceases. Previous training in almost any line of social work, especially work dealing with children, would be helpful. 14 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN STATE CHILD SAVING MARY W. DEWSON SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PROBATION DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, MASSACHUSETTS Institutional training is necessary for delinquent girls whom neither court probation officers nor child-placing societies can keep safely in their own homes or in the homes of other people. In the institution the girls are trained through their hands by housework, laundry work, cooking, sewing, gardening, and sloyd, sports, gymnastics, and further school work. The aim of the officer must be to send out her girls not only capable of making themselves useful, but possessing something of the good every- day virtues, and filled with the standards and ideals of living and of conduct belonging to plain, hard-working, self-respecting people. When the girls are put on parole, they become the responsi- bility of a visitor under the Probation Department, who finds homes for them in good families, where they hold much the posi- tion of old-fashioned "help." Some of the girls, after a while, become dressmakers, attendants, and so on. Later they may go back to their own homes. For these girls between the years of fifteen and twenty-one the problems of life are especially com- plicated by their intense interest in young men. They are, more- over, handicapped by great temperamental difficulties, by un- formed characters, by the lack of much native ability, and by poor habits only temporarily arrested by the training at the school. The visitor must arrange and rearrange conditions so that the fight shall always be possible and hopeful. She must keep up the courage and the interest of the fighter and of her employers, who will often lose heart. She must be capable, too, of enlisting the interest of other people in her charges, as well as of gaining the co-operation of the relatives, never forgetting that her difficulties are bound up with the big social problem with which she should be familiar. A natural aptitude for visiting these difficult girls is essential. Aside from that, any training that has developed the visitor on SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 15 the points just mentioned would be an advantage. It would be a detriment if the work that she has done has tended to make her set and dry, a routine worker who mistakes conformity for growth. An inspiring teacher has had a good preparation for visiting. Special training is given the visitor through consul- tation over the daily perplexities as they arise. Owing to the out-of-door life, the occupation is healthful; it requires a well- balanced rather than a robust person. Some women are not too young to begin when they are twenty -four years old nor some too old to start at forty. The State Board of Charity, Department of Minor Wards, and the City of Boston, Children's Department, have visitors for children and babies as well as for girls, and what has been said of the parole work applies equally to their departments, except that their proportion of very difficult girls is much smaller, and the work with the younger children is more simple. A woman who is inadequate for older girls might be a success with children. For a visitor of little children a nurse's training is excellent. For the babies under three the State Board employs two physicians as visitors, and the city a trained nurse. The superintendent of the State Industrial School appoints her officers without restriction. The visitors for the State Board, the City, and the Probation Department are under the civil service. Information as to when the next examination will be held may be had from the Civil Service Commission, State House, Boston. The common sense, insight, and imagination of the ap- plicant are tested by such questions as : "Margaret has been wayward and in a reformatory institution. She is now sixteen, and has been placed by the department in a good home, where she can earn her living by housework. You find, as you become acquainted, that she dislikes the work bitterly, and does it in a lazy, half-hearted way, although she seems a girl of force and power. What are the things you would do? And why?"* Visitors for the City of Boston must have lived in Boston for at least one year previous to the examination. The State visitors are not restricted by residence. * Civil service examination held September, 1907. 16 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN The salaries at the State Industrial School range from $300 to $1,800 with board and lodging. Visitors receive from $600 to $1,750 without maintenance. The State Board of Charity employs 26 women in the care of its minor wards; the Probation Department, 9; the State Indus- trial School, 45; and the City of Boston, Children's Depart- ment, 5. There is a particular zest in public service. The State does the biggest block of child-saving work, and to do it as effectively as the private societies is a challenge. REFORMATORY WORK FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN KATHARINE BEMENT DAVIS SUPERINTENDENT, STATE REFORMATORY FOR WOMEN, BEDFORD, NEW YORK The State of New York takes precedence over every other State in the Union in the provision made for reformatory treatment of women and girls. It now supports three such institutions, the State Training School for Girls at Hudson, the Western House of Refuge for Women at Albion, and the State Reformatory for Women at Bedford. Hudson cares for something over 300 girls between the ages of twelve and sixteen. Bedford and Albion take charge of nearly 600 women between the ages of fifteen and thirty, committed for all offences except murder in the first and second degree, for an indefinite term not to exceed three years. Each of these three institutions is officered by women. With the exception of the position of superintendent at the State Training School for Girls at Hudson, all positions for women in each of these institutions are under civil service rules. The examinations are not difficult, and should not bar any woman of fair education and training from entering the service. The salaries range from $1,800 a year for the superintendents to $30 a month for officers in charge of the laundry and sewing- rooms. Maintenance is in addition to this, and means room, board, and laundry. Each of these institutions has a resident SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 17 physician at a salary of $1,200, and a woman steward at a salary of $1,000, one or two parole officers at $720 each, and a marshal at $720, a head-teacher at $600, and so on. Matrons of cottages receive $40 a month, and assistant matrons $35 a month. It wiH be seen that the salaries paid in the upper ranks are equal to or above the average paid to school-teachers. Comparatively few college women have entered the State service in these institutions, although there is a growing number who are filling positions in other branches of the State service. Two out of the three super- intendents, two of the physicians, and several teachers are college women. The drawback to the positions is, for most women, the remote- ness of the institutions from large cities. The officers are thrown, more or less, upon themselves for companionship, and must de- pend upon their own resources for amusement. On the other hand there is a growing demand for trained workers in these lines in other States, and women of more than average ability are pretty sure, sooner or later, to receive promotion, if not in this State, then by offer of better work in another. In the educational departments there is a great opportunity for original work, as there are no cut-and-dried educational methods employed, and the individual teacher must adapt her methods to meet the needs of her individual pupils. I know of no other openings along educational lines where at the present time there is such a virgin field for constructive work. For stu- dents interested in problems of abnormalities psychological and physiological there is also an abundant opportunity for research work as well as for work along various social lines, although it is to be said that in regular positions the duties are so exacting as to leave little time for study. An increasing number of young women graduates from our colleges are fitting themselves for social work. It would seem that there should be a certain percentage of women whose talents fit them for this kind of work who would be drawn to it in much the same spirit with which workers enter the social settlements or even the foreign mission fields. 18 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN THE STATE CHARITIES AID ASSOCIATION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK MARY VIDA CLARK ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL WORK. The executive staff consists of a secretary, three assistant sec- retaries, and the employees of the different departments men- tioned below. One of the assistant secretaries at the present time is a woman and a college graduate. CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENT. An agency for placing out children in family homes is main- tained at the central office, and employs a superintendent and four assistant agents, all women. The work of the agents is to travel about the State, investigating the character and circumstances of families who have applied for children, taking children to families whose applications have been approved, and visiting children in their foster homes after they have been placed out. An agent is also employed whose special work it is to investigate the circumstances of children in institutions in different parts of the State, in order to ascertain whether they can be placed out in free family homes. The association has nine county or city agents for dependent children, at the present time, in different parts of the State, and is gradually increasing the number by starting the work in other cities and counties. Such an agent does practically all the work necessary in connection with children who are or who are likely to become public dependants. She investigates the circumstances of the children who are maintained in institutions at public ex- pense, and returns to relatives those whose relatives are found to be morally fit and financially able to care for them; places out in free family homes, in co-operation with the agency at the central office, such children as are suitable for such disposition; investi- gates applications for the commitment of children to institutions as public charges, and advises the public officials as to whether SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 19 or not they should be accepted.* In many localities these agents are intrusted by public Poor Law officers with a large part of their work in connection with the relief of the poor in their homes. In many counties these agents act also as county probation offi- cers on appointment by the county judge. At the central office there is also an Agency for Assisting and Providing Situations for Mothers with Babies, which employs an agent and an assistant agent. The work of this agency is to enable homeless women to keep their children with them by placing them as servants in carefully selected homes. All the employees of the Children's Department are women, and about half of those employed at the present time are college graduates. The salaries range from $600 to $1,200 a year. TUBERCULOSIS DEPARTMENT. The Tuberculosis Department is carrying on a campaign for the prevention of tuberculosis throughout the State of New York out- side of New York City. Of the six non-clerical employees only two at the present time are women, but it is possible that more women may be employed in future. The work of this department is to conduct campaigns and organize committees in different parts of the State, to address meetings, to write articles for the press, and to correspond with people all over the State with regard to the work. * Similar work is carried on by the City of New York and the State under civil service regulations. The superintendent reports that there are 11 women employed by the Children's Bureau of the Department of Public Charities of the City of New York as Examiners of Charitable Institutions. " The duties of the position are to investigate the applications for the commitment and discharge of children. In ad- dition to this routine or current work of the Bureau, these Examiners also reinvesti- gate the circumstances of the families of children in institutions in compliance with the rules of the State Board of Charities governing the retention of children in institutions. The salary of an Examiner of Charitable Institutions is $1,200 per annum, and appointment of the same is subject to Civil Service examination." The Twenty-sixth Report of the New York State Civil Service Commission names 4 women inspectors under the State Board of Charities, 2 with a salary of $1,200, 4 with a salary of $900. A letter from the secretary of the board gives their duties as follows: "The homes in which dependent children are placed out by poor-law officers are visited and inspected regularly by women inspectors of this board, and in addition our women inspectors visit almshouses, hospitals, asylums for children, homes for the aged, and other types of charitable institutions." ED. 20 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN NEW YORK CITY VISITING COMMITTEE. This committee of the association visits, inspects, and en- deavors to improve the public charitable institutions of the city of New York. It does most of its work through volunteers. A woman assistant secretary is employed to direct the work of these volunteer visitors and to assist in the preparation of the reports. A college training is desirable for most of the positions men- tioned above, but it is not essential. Other things being equal, college graduates who have had the advantage of courses in eco- nomics and sociology are considered somewhat better fitted for the work than those who have not had such courses. The im- portant qualifications, however, for practically all the positions are good judgment, tact, ability to speak in public, interest in the work, and a capacity for seeing its larger aspects. It is es- pecially important that those who are employed in most of these positions should be able to get on well with all sorts and condi- tions of people, for their work brings them in contact with a great variety of men and women, including public officials, officers of institutions, and philanthropic citizens. For most of the posi- tions it is possible to secure women who are both college graduates and graduates of a school of philanthropy, and women with such qualifications are preferred if they have the essential personal qualifications. PLAYGROUND WORK JOSEPH LEE FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT, PLAYGROUND ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA THE DEMAND. Playgrounds are increasing not only in Massachusetts, but in the United States. By an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1908, 42 cities and towns of over 10,000 inhabitants were asked to vote on the desirability of maintaining playgrounds. Sixteen towns and 24 cities have voted, under the act, to maintain play- grounds, one for the first 10,000 and one for every additional 20,000 inhabitants, such action to take effect in July, 1910. Many smaller towns also have taken or are taking steps to es- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 21 tablish play centres. The Year Book of the Playground Asso- ciation of America gives the following summary of "cities in the United States having a population of 5,000 and over maintain- ing supervised playgrounds in 1909." North Atlantic States South Atlantic States North Central States Cities having playgrounds . Population of cities having playgrounds . . 149 10,785,710 17 1,244,774 123 6,659,021 Aggregate number of play- grounds in 1909 .... Aggregate number of em- ployees in 1909 .... Aggregate expenditures in 1909 873(123) 2,434(119) $515,412(101) 128(17) 291(17) $77,772(12) 416(87) 868(84) $631,430(49) South Central States Western States United States Cities having playgrounds . Population of cities having 23 24 336 playgrounds 1,089,601 1,081,653 20,860,759 Aggregate number of play- grounds in 1909 .... 70(21) 48(19) 1,535(267) Aggregate number of em- ployees in 1909 .... 79(21) 84(18) 5,756(259) Aggregate expenditures in 1909 $30,000(12) $98,500(10) $1,353,114(184) The authorities managing these playgrounds are as follows: park departments, school boards, playground commissioners, and other municipal authorities; playground associations and other private organizations. With the increase in playgrounds comes, of course, an increased demand for workers. As a rule, there are three instructors on a playground, a man for the older boys and two women for the younger boys and girls. PREPARATION. The teaching of play by women seems to fall into two classes, teaching children under ten (sometimes the line is drawn as high as thirteen) and teaching the bigger girls. The requirements for the two purposes are somewhat different. 22 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN 1. Teaching Children under Ten. The profession of play teacher is a new one, and opinions still differ as to what the main requirements are and what is the best preparation for it. I myself believe that the best people to have charge of the small children are kindergartners for those under six years old, and kindergartners or other school-teachers for those from six to ten, and, accordingly, that the best preparation now available is in the normal schools. Moreover, there is a prac- tical reason for joining play teaching, at least of the smaller chil- dren, with school teaching; namely, that the two are necessarily carried on in different parts of the day or at different seasons of the year, and that for the present the times and seasons * of the play- ground for the small children are not long enough to take the whole of a person's working time, and therefore are not enough to afford full remunerative employment.! There is, it is true, a * Regulation of the Boston School Committee, April 12, 1909: During the . season of 1909, playgrounds shall be conducted under the direction of the depart- ment of school hygiene as follows: From April 12 to June 26 and from September 6 to November 20, from close of school until 5.30 o'clock P.M. daily, Sundays, holidays, and Saturday afternoons excepted. From June 28 to September 4, from 9 o'clock A.M. until 5 o'clock P.M. daily, Sundays, holidays, and Saturday afternoons excepted. t From the schedule of Boston Teachers' Salaries, 1909-10: First Assistants in playgrounds (women) (two sessions) $2.00 First Assistants in playgrounds (women) (one session) 1.20 First Assistants in playgrounds (women) from close of school until 5.30 P.M 1.00 Play Teachers (men) (morning session) 3.00 Play Teachers (men) from close of school until 5.30 P.M 1.50 Assistant Play Teachers (men) morning session 2.50 Assistant Play Teachers (men) from close of school until 5.30 P.M. . 1 .00 Assistants in playgrounds (two sessions) 1.25 Assistants in playgrounds (one session) 75 Assistants in sand gardens (two sessions) 75 Assistants in sand gardens (one session) 50 The Playground Association of America reports that instructors or first as- sistants are paid from $35 a month in some cities to $85 in others. The salary of a playground director varies in the same way from $50 to $150. "The more common amount paid to playground workers is as follows: for directors t $100; for first men assistants, $75; for first women assistants, $50." ED. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 23 place in every school system for a director of the whole system of physical education and for assistant directors, but those places are comparatively few. But besides the teaching that normal schools are at present giving in their regular course, the play teacher should have some definite preparation in a course especially designed to teach play- ground work. A good practical knowledge of the subject can be gained in a summer course,* of which several are now being given, or in a course like that which the Boston Normal School has lately established for teachers who desire to include this line of work. 2. Teaching the Bigger Girls, especially those over Fourteen. There are now schools, f furnishing full preparation for this especial work, in which the physical and anatomical side is more extensively dwelt upon than is necessary in the case of the smaller children. At present the public teaching of play in Boston is almost wholly in charge of the School Committee, t which requires at * In March, 1910, the Sargent School of Physical Training, Cambridge, Mass.. gave a series of twenty-four lectures on the theory of playground work, and in the summer will carry on a special course in connection with the Harvard Summer School. The New York School of Philanthropy and the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy will give special playground courses in the summer of 1910. The Public Athletic League and Children's Playground Association of Baltimore carries on similar instruction from January 4 to May 31, 1910. ED. f E.g., The Boston Normal School of Gymnastics (now Department of Hygiene and Physical Training, Wellesley College) and the Sargent School of Physical Training. For further particulars as to normal work refer to the Play- ground Association of America, 1 Madison Avenue, New York City. ED. t Regulation passed by the School Committee of Boston, April 26, 1909: Instructors in athletics and assistant instructors in athletics must hold a certificate of qualification including those positions. Play teachers and assistant play teachers must hold a certificate of qualification, elementary school. Class B, or a higher certificate. First assistants in playgrounds must hold a certificate of qualification, elementary school, Class B, or a higher certificate, or a kindergarten certificate, or a special physical training certificate for high schools, or a playground certificate. Assistants in playgrounds and assistants in sand gardens must hold a certificate of qualification, elementary school, Class B, or higher certificate, or a kindergarten certificate, or a special physical training certificate, or a play- ground certificate, or be pupils in regular attendance in the Boston Normal School. 24 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN least two years in the Boston Normal School for playground work and graduation from the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics for teaching the high-school girls. As TO WHAT PLAY TEACHING is. 1. For Children under Ten. The first test of a successful playground is that the children shall be there. There are playgrounds run in the most ex- emplary manner which the children cannot be induced to attend. This sort of absent treatment is not the most effective. In order that the children may be there, the first requisite is that there shall be something to do which they find worth while. The ques- tion of fitting out a playground is a special one that cannot be gone into here, but an important matter for the teacher to see to is that what apparatus there is shall be in order and shall be in use. If there are unused swings or sand boxes or tilts or teeter ladders, there is something the matter with the management. Besides apparatus there must be attractive games. Those for the little children under six are largely of the dramatic and non-competitive variety. In these games the teacher will, as a rule, find it necessary to participate, besides teaching them in the first place. The children's power of social construction and adhesion is, as a rule, too weak to stand alone. After somewhere about the age of six the element of competition will come in more and more. At first the games will combine the two elements, as in hunt the squirrel or London bridge. Afterwards they will become frankly competitive, as in hill dill, prisoners' base, and the various forms of tag. 2. For Girls over Ten. The bigger girls may perhaps be usefully divided into two classes, those from eleven to fourteen and those over fourteen. Just what should be done about them is still to some extent a matter of surmise. In the main the age from eleven to fourteen may perhaps be said to be the really critical one, because upon the use of those years will depend the use of the years that fol- low, in which the good or evil results become more manifest. The SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 25 great thing to be aimed at is that the girl from eleven to fourteen shall remain a tomboy. She ought to play hard, lively games, with her brothers and other boys as much as possible. She can- not play football, and it seems to be true that the most strenuous forms of competition are not good for her; but she can play every running game, from tag to hare and hounds, and games like prisoners' base, which have not been taken up by the colleges and in which, accordingly, the competitive spirit has not been abnormally developed. Throwing has been found to be good for girls, and baseball accordingly is a good game for them. Al- though competition should not be excessive, good absorbing games are a prime necessity. Skating is one of the best forms of ex- ercise for girls at any age. Theatricals are good, and should be begun before the self-conscious age of fourteen. For girls over fourteen the same sort of games are still to be desired, though perhaps they will play them less with boys and be less willing to play them on an open playground where every- body can look on. Dancing is at this period easily the most popular exercise, not necessarily dancing with boys. Folk dancing and fancy dancing, in girls' classes and wholly without spectators, seem to have an immense attraction and power of exhilaration. The development of star performers is to be re- ligiously avoided. THE SOCIAL CENTRE MOVEMENT EDWARD J. WARD SUPERVISOR OF SOCIAL CENTRES AND PLAYGROUNDS IN ROCHESTER, NEW YORK The use of the public school buildings as social centres, as it has been developed in Rochester, means equipping them with gymnasium apparatus and baths, with circulating libraries and games, with stereopticon lantern and other facilities for the giv- ing of lectures and entertainments, and opening these buildings in the evenings for the use of the people in the neighborhood as community club-houses. Our method is to have the building 26 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN opened for a part of the evenings in the week for the use of the men and boys, a part of the evenings for the women and girls, and at least one evening in each week for all together. The men are organized into a Men's Civic Club, the women into a Women's Civic Club, the boys into their club, and the girls into theirs. Each of these clubs holds a weekly meeting: each of them is a self-governing organization. For the Boys' Club a man is required as director. Another man is required to take charge of the men's and boys' gymnasium work. For the Girls' Club a woman is required as director, and a woman with her assistant is required to take charge of the women's and girls' gymnasium work. The position of gymnasium director in the social centres is similar to that of directors in other gymnasiums. The position of librarian in the school social centres is also similar to that of librarians in general, except that for this position one needs not so much technical knowledge as to indexing and find- ing of books as a broad, intimate acquaintance with books and people which makes it possible for one to inspire love of good literature on the part of all sorts of folks. The position of director of girls' clubs in the social centres requires a new sort of qualifications. The qualifications of the ordinary social worker are not sufficient, for the social centres are not institutions of uplift for the poor people alone, as are social settlements. In order to fill the position of club director in a public school social centre, a woman needs the adaptability which shall make her the much-needed missing link between classes and creeds and races. She deals not with women and girls of any one station in society, but with those of all stations. In order to be successful, she must have the broadest spirit of democracy and human interest as the foundation of her character. Added to this, she needs ingenuity and inventiveness for the planning and arranging of programs for the clubs. She needs parliamentary ability in order to develop the spirit of self- government. She needs a strength of personality which shall make the question of order in these club meetings a matter to be taken for granted, never needing active enforcement. In view of the fact that the Young Women's and Girls' Clubs frequently entertain the members of the Boys' Club, the Girls' Club director SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 27 for social centre work should have also the qualifications of the best sort of chaperon. Physical training, musical and literary culture, are, of course, desirable, but the great things needed are poise and breadth of interest and sympathy, combined - with initiative and tact. There is no position now opening up which offers to women more splendid opportunities for service in developing the civic spirit of broad acquaintanceship than this position of director of girls' clubs which meet in public school buildings. The question of remuneration in this, as in other work, depends upon the qualifications of the individual, upon the public recog- nition of the value of the service, and upon the "supply" of per- sons qualified. The pay for the work for subordinate positions is $2.50 per evening. The pay for director, which corresponds to the principal, is $4 per evening. Of course, as the work broadens out and increases, the pay will also increase. A number of cities are just now beginning the use of their school buildings as social centres. New York City has opened 30 schools, Philadelphia about 15, and Pittsburg 3. In addition to these which are now actually engaged in the work, the following cities are about to begin: Boston, Mass., Buffalo, N.Y., Colum- bus, Ohio. Besides these a number of other cities are apparently getting ready to open their school buildings: Syracuse, N.Y., Cleveland, Ohio, Baltimore, Md., Los Angeles, CaL, and others. The next few years are likely to see a very great demand for this work; the social spirit is all abroad, and public school extension is a most obvious channel for its expression. A satisfactory arrangement, by which one may combine two sorts of similar work, is service as a playground director during the summer and as a social centre director in the winter. This is the plan followed by several of the directors in Rochester. 28 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN ECONOMIC RESEARCH SUSAN M. KINGSBURY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND ECONOMICS, SIMMONS COLLEGE College students who have found themselves interested in the discovery of economic principles and concerned about the solu- tion of economic problems, have proved an ability to think logi- cally and clearly, and have a sense of proportion and perspective, may well consider specialization along economic lines. Fitness for research in economic subjects requires the powers outlined for all research work. The initial preparation for such work should consist of college courses in history and economics. For advanced training there are at present, in addition to the graduate research courses in economics and social science in all of our universities, a number of institutions which are offering special training for research, and are granting fellowships and scholarships varying from $100 to $1,000. The object of these studentships, in the words of the Director of Research in the Chicago school, is to afford "experience as enumerators with a study of the problem to be attacked on the theoretical side, and exercises in the use of the various technical devices for presenting the results of the enquiry." Such opportunities are to be found in research departments of the New York School of Philanthropy, the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, the School for Social Workers in Boston, and the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston, while the American Bureau of Industrial Research conducts its work through fellowships in connection with the University of Wisconsin. The actual present number of positions in economic research and the compensation are most difficult to determine. It must be understood that for the present at least not only is the number of such opportunities in any one field of pure research limited, but the position may be brief and will probably not be permanent, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 29 and, furthermore, may take the woman to any part of the country, although such experience should distinctly lead to administrative work of a similar type. For this very reason the salaries should be relatively high. The sum paid to the enumerator or the college girl serving an apprenticeship with no previous training may be $12 to $15 per week, while the salary of the trained worker will vary with her experience and the responsibilities and originality of the investigation from $1,000 to $2,000 a year or more. When the power of administration is combined with that of research, the income may be proportionately greater. Positions in pure research exist to-day or have existed during the past year under State and national bureaus of labor, the Russell Sage Foundation, State and national special com- missions, child labor committees, the Consumers' League, the Women's Trade Union League, and other private organiza- tions.* Training in economic research may lead, therefore, to such posi- tions as: 1. Social settlement workers, where the investigation would concern itself with the life of the people. This would include the study of the wages, standard of living, and savings or thrift, of the workers. 2. Investigators of industries, of the relations of employer and employee or of landlord and tenant, and of such problems as the supply and demand of labor, wages, hours, protection, and gen- eral conditions of labor. Positions are to be found under na- tional and State bureaus of labor, special national investigations, such as the commission on the labor of women and children and the immigration commission, State recess commissions and com- mittees, and private studies conducted by such organizations as the Russell Sage Foundation. Such experience or training also opens positions as factory inspectors,! tenement-house inspec- * Seventeen responses to twenty-seven inquiries showed twelve organizations carrying on or having conducted some line of inquiry. To state that at least one hundred such positions have been open during the past year or two will not exaggerate the opportunity. f Forty-seven factory inspectorships in the several States "may" or "must" be filled by women. Of these inspectors, eight in Ohio are called " visitors." 30 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN tors, lodging-house inspectors, and workers who are concerned with the enforcement of the laws touching the industrial welfare of the community. 3. Leaders in the promotion of the welfare of the group from the financial and physical side, in organizations which have to do with the relation between employer and employee and the effort of the employee to improve his position. Such occupations are those of secretaryships to organizations, the Consumers' League, thrift societies, or trade unions. 4. Educational leaders of industrial workers. The responsi- bilities of the public to aid the people to a knowledge of the oppor- tunity for employment and to direct young people into the fields for which they are fitted are creating a demand for administrators of employment agencies and vocational counsellors. Such posi- tions require a knowledge of the industries, together with the power and training of the psychologist to judge and of the edu- cator to direct the individual. MUNICIPAL RESEARCH WILLIAM H. ALLEN DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH, NEW YORK WHAT is MUNICIPAL RESEARCH? A search for facts that concern municipal welfare with special reference to governmental responsibility for conditions. The title is broad enough to include almost any other kind of research, for there is no truth of science or medicine or pathology or soci- ology or pedagogics that is not involved in successful adminis- tration of an Americ n city. The term "municipal," as distinct from other forms of research, has been given its color by the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, whose charter pur- poses are as follows: To promote efficient and economical municipal government; to promote the adoption of scientific methods of accounting and of reporting the details of municipal business, with a view to facili- tating the work of public officials; to secure constructive pub- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 31 licity in matters pertaining to municipal problems; and to these ends to collect, to classify, to analyze, to correlate, to interpret, and to publish facts as to the administration of municipal govern- ment. In the course of four years its workers have found it necessary to study infant mortality, part time, truancy, milk inspection, physical examination of school-children, dock leases, ferry costs, tenement-house administration, budget-making, hospital manage- ment, park revenues, loafing employees, diversion of hospital funds, charter-making, public baths, school reports, city debt, playground management, hospital helpers, highway repairing, police supplies, the law and practice in cases of perjury, etc. They have had direct and indirect contact with employees and officials, high and low, responsible for the above municipal activi- ties, and besides have had contact with the tenement resident, the purchaser of unsafe milk, the sick child, the indigent and the rich, ministers, congregations, social workers, editors, machine politicians, and political reformers. The scope of municipal research in any community is as broad as the activities of that community. Anything and anybody may fall in its field that is or ought to be taxed or punished or inconvenienced or educated by the community as a whole. Pub- lic health, public education, public charity, public order, public safety, public investment, or public insurance, whatever belongs to any of them, may, over night, become the chief concern of municipal research. KINDS OF OPENING. For these varied subjects and varied tasks, workers of varied qualifications are required. Investigaticfri in the field, clerical work, statistical research, stenography, Xditorial work, proof- reading, telephone operating, interpreting, secretarial work, publicity work, college women are needed in all of these positions. NUMBER OF OPENINGS. There are Bureaus of Municipal Research in Greater New York, Philadelphia, Memphis, and Cincinnati, with growing 32 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN staffs. There is none as yet in Boston. While obviously the openings are not yet numerous, the methods and point of view of municipal research are required in a great many positions adjacent to municipal activities. So many cities are in need of municipal research that it is certain a forced supply will not only stimulate a demand, but will, in a very short time, run behind the demand. The New York Bureau of Municipal Research now has 35 employees, of whom 16 are women. Of 4 graduates of women's colleges, at present one is an investigator in the field, one is in charge of bulletins and office supplies, messengers and clippings, one is doing editorial work chiefly, ne is a volunteer doing statistical work in connection with schools. It is as yet relatively difficult to use women as field investi- gators, because we work with and through city employees respon- sible for fields studied, and these officials and those under their authority are men who prefer to collaborate again as yet with men. For some time to come municipal research will rely for its field investigators chiefly upon men. For its office statistical work, for reporters, writers, proof-readers, secretaries, women will be in special demand until potentially competent women are as rare as potentially competent men. In smaller communities there is a probability that municipal research will come sooner if college women fit themselves to urge, to organize, to finance, and to do municipal research work. The need is unlimited. The demand will soon follow. Will college women fit themselves to lead? The New York Bureau could take research students as apprentices at their own expense to an unlimited number and give them a wide range of experience, but for some time to come will add to its own staff but one or two women a year. It is then, in other words, a better market at present for those who wish to trade their time for training than for those who wish to sell their time. LENGTH OF TIME OF TRAINING. It takes from three to twelve months in an office for the average college man or woman to develop a figure conscience to be able to add, to figure correctly, to compute percentage reliably, to SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 33 write letters just right. Previous courses in economic and public administration, history, and natural science, all seem to help more than mathematics, for example. It is easier to give accu- racy to a person who can visualize preventable mortality than to give power of visualization to an unimaginative, accurate person. To be quite candid, there seems to be no certain relation between college mathematics and accuracy in an office, or between after- college horkon and cultural studies in college. Any previous training that makes one trainable, imaginative, ambitious to earn not a mere passing mark, but an average of 98 per cent, in practical work, is good training for municipal research. WHAT ARE SALARIES? The present salaries are not a fair index to what municipal research offers. The highest salary we now pay is $1,500. Be- cause municipal business has so many sides, it is safe to say that the same person will at the end of five years be able to earn more in any other line because of work in municipal research. SOCIAL SERVICE THE NEW YORK ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE POOR HALLE D. WOODS ASSISTANT SETPEHINTENDENT OP RELIEF The New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor offers a field of work that ought to be of special interest to college women who are desiring to enter upon social service. From 6,000 to 10,000 families are under the care of the associ- ation each year, and while the immediate task is to relieve their distress, beyond this lies the opportunity for raising the standard of living of individual families and for gathering together facts as 34 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN to the environment of the poor and as to their physical, mental, and moral condition, facts which show the causes of poverty, which disclose the special evils to be overcome and point the way to needed reforms. VISITORS. From 25 to 30 visitors are needed to carry on the work of the Relief Department. Three of these are men, the others women of education, experience, tact, sympathy, and good judgment. Women who have been interested in teaching find that in taking up the work of visiting the poor they have not fundamentally changed their profession, for the work is largely educational. The difference is that the family, as a whole, now becomes the unit of work instead of one child. Each visitor has under her care from 75 to 100 families, who, because of illness, lack of work, or shiftlessness, are unable to support themselves, "the appeal is usually for some material aid, such as food, rent, clothing, or fuel, but while giving this aid the visitor is compelled to make a study of the home conditions, and to devise some plan that will put the family once more in an independent position, and, if possible, establish for them a higher standard of living. This means advising those who do not know how best to help themselves, giving encouragement and sympathy to those who are disheartened, helping men and women to overcome their lack of former opportunity, working with them in the struggle against inherited tendencies, teaching ignorant mothers how to care for their homes and their children, looking well to the physi- cal, mental, and moral condition of all members of the family, putting them in touch with dispensaries, hospitals, schools, churches, social settlements, playgrounds, parks, libraries, and museums, and trying in every way to secure for them their right- ful heritage of health, knowledge, comfort, and happiness. SPECIAL TEACHERS. Since the unhappy conditions of the home are so often due to the ignorance of the wife and mother, a few special teachers are needed; e.g., SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 35 (a) One dietitian and teacher of cooking, who goes to the home to instruct the mother whose children are underfed or wrongly fed, giving lessons in practical cooking, planning carefully with the mother the meals of the family, and giving at the same time systematic lessons in the wise expenditure of money. (6) One sewing teacher, who instructs women how to make the garments given out by the Association. (c) Ten nurses : 3 who visit mothers before and after confine- ment to instruct them regarding their own care and later regard- ing the care of the baby; 2 who visit cases of general illness and teach mothers how to watch over the physical welfare of the children; 5 who visit certain dispensaries and then go to the homes to see that the mothers carry out the instructions of the physician. SUPERVISORS. The supervisory work consists in overseeing the work of 5 or 6 visitors, carrying on any necessary correspondence, reading and hearing the daily reports of the visitors, watching the expen- ditures, suggesting ways and means of relief, giving decisions in troublesome cases, and in general acting as guide, counsellor, and friend both to visitors and applicants. RESEARCH WORK. One aim of the association is to use the knowledge gained in the homes for the permanent betterment of social conditions. To this end full study is made of facts bearing upon social and eco- nomic problems, and it is the task of one worker to put these facts in statistical form and issue reports that show the cause and effect of some one evil that is affecting the community. TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE. There is no fixed requirement as to the training and experience of those entering upon the work of the association. Previous experience in social work is always helpful, and trained insight into character is invaluable. Other things being equal, preference is given to college women and to those who have specialized in 36 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN economics and sociology, but very many women have become successful visitors without such training. There are about 70 women upon the staff of the A. I. C. P., but the positions of most interest to those who will read these pages are the following: one superintendent of relief, 1 assistant superintendent of relief, 2 reception agents, 4 supervisors, 25 to 30 visitors, 1 dietitian, 1 sewing teacher, 10 nurses, 1 statistician, 1 subscription clerk, 1 secretary to general agent. Fresh-air work, May to October, requires; 2 supervisors, 10 to 12 visitors, 1 superintendent of Sea Breeze, one secretary to superintendent. The salaries of these positions vary from $40 a month, given to beginners, to $2,000 a year. CHARITY ORGANIZATION WORK MARY GRACE WORTHINGTON SUPERVISOR OF FIELD WORK, NEW YORK SCHOOL OF PHILANTHROPY Charity Organization work offers a much wider scope and a more diversified field of action for the influence of educated women than is at all generally known. A very brief explanation of the lines upon which the Charity Organization Society in the city of New York is administered will show how well adapted it is to initiate new movements for the improvement of social and moral conditions, and what efficient means it has to execute them successfully. The Central Council, the governing body of the society, is composed of 33 members, all of whom serve without com- pensation. The work of the Council is distributed among a number of standing committees responsible to the Council. These committees, which are appointed by the president, include members irrespective "of residence or contribution, and the Society has been able to enlist on different Committees men and women in other parts of the country to deal with matters that are national rather than local." The chairman of each commit- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 37 tee is a member of the council, but the other members need not be, so that the people best fitted by knowledge and service may be used for the efficient work of new undertakings. There are now 20 of these standing committees, each in charge of a dis- tinctive part of the work. The work is organized in bureaus, with a paid executive head, secretary, and assistants, and some of the positions are already filled by women, who have the con- genial task of planning and developing new methods to increase the constructive power of social work. Through its belief in co-operation and its endeavor to use in the most effectual way whatever the community has to offer for the benefit of the poor and the propaganda of reform, the society continues to demonstrate to the public the value of the co-ordination of charitable effort. The necessity of some commu- nity reform the knowledge of which we may imagine to be due to some woman's careful study of the conditions under which the lives of the poor are misspent or exploited is thoroughly ex- plained to the public, and through the efforts of one of the stand- ing committees an object-lesson of practical remedial reform is given until the proper civic authorities have been aroused to their responsibilities, when the work is turned over to them and the society left free to initiate some new improvement. Present examples of such work are the Tenement House Committee and the Committee for the Prevention of Tuberculosis. Besides its work in co-operative and constructive reform the society is especially equipped to handle relief funds in times of emergency, to investigate charitable institutions for the informa- tion of donors, to prevent the duplication of charitable agencies and to supplement them whenever necessary, and to use its influ- ence against unwise appropriation for supposed charitable pur- poses. It also edits a journal of constructive philanthropy, called the Survey, formerly Charities and the Commons, and has lately inaugurated a Field Department for the extension of organ- ized charity in different parts of the country. With the active support of this department new societies are constantly being formed. Women have been and will be employed in all these activities. In New York the society employs 166 people, of whom 132 are 38 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN women and 34 men. About one-half of the women are clerks and stenographers, getting salaries that vary from $5 to $20 a week. The salaries of the women employed as heads of bureaus and departments, supervisors, secretaries, and members of the edi- torial staff of the Survey, compare favorably with those of women teachers, and range from $900 to $1,800 a year. A few at the top reach even a higher figure. Of the 66 women in the higher positions, not quite one-half have been trained in the School of Philanthropy, but the rest have had either a period of training in the society itself or experience in other forms of social work. It is now considered necessary for every woman, whether she is a college graduate or not, to have had some special training before she undertakes any philanthropic work. The society does an extensive work through its district com- mittees, of which there are 11 in New York (Manhattan and the Bronx). These committees have charge of the families within their separate boundaries, and attend to their own government, subject to the control of the council. Each district has an agent, a stenographer, and often a visiting nurse. Women now fill all these positions. The agent's salary varies from $780 to $1,200 a year, with certain advancement for any woman with special ability. The assistant agents are paid from $60 to $70 a month. These assistant positions should be regarded by the student of sociology as medical students regard their dispensary practice, as offering the very best opportunity to get the training necessary for positions of more responsibility. It is not sufficiently under- stood that the District Office, composed of trained workers, is the clinic of the social movement, and that these positions can and should be used by women students to study social forces. Special training must, however, be added, for there is, perhaps, no part of the work in which the social student needs more super- vision and direction than in dealing with the individual case. It is an art which can use the highest abilities, and out of which surprising results can be developed by the force of individual character and properly directed effort. Proper investigation is the foundation of all good work, and requires a high order of disciplined intelligence. There is a growing demand for trained women to fill the posi- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 39 tions of general secretaries of Associated Charities in places out- side of New York. In such positions a woman would have the opportunity of using all her executive power to create co-operation between various charities, and in many instances would be asked to advise in the administration of public relief. These positions start with a salary of $900 or $1,200 and increase with the success of the work. The New York School of Philanthropy, United Charities Build- ing, 105 East 22d Street, New York City, is under the care of the Committee on Philanthropic Education of the Charity Or- ganization Society, and offers two courses in applied philan- thropy. 1st. The Summer Course, June 20 to July 29, 1910. One year's experience in social work is required, and a registration fee of $20. It aims to give a brief normal course for experienced social workers. 2d. The Winter Course, beginning September 28, 1910, and ending May 31, 1911. This is a two years' course. One year is given to required residence work, consisting of lectures and class instruction by experts and six months of supervised practical field work, two of which must be spent in learning Charity Or- ganization Methods. The second year may be devoted to super- vised professional employment combined with special instruction, or to advanced work at the school. The fee is $100. This course is designed for the beginner in social work. The school has a Bureau of Social Research (Russell Sage Foundation), where intensive investigations are made into some of the present living conditions in the United States. A few re- search fellowships with stipends varying from $500 to $1,500 are awarded to those with some special gift or training for research work. The winter and summer schools have a number of fellow- ships as well, all of which are awarded equally to men and women. Since the active work of the Bureau of Social Research was be- gun in October, 1907, there have been 10 women fellows and as- sistants and 11 men. Of these, 4 of the women and 4 of the men were senior fellows with salaries of $1,000 to $1,500. Informa- tion in regard to these fellowships will be given upon request. It is important that educated women should know that there 40 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN is an opportunity in the varied work of the Charity Organization Society for the worthy exercise of their highest powers, also that the training in method given by the society is the best prepara- tion for other kinds of social work. OPPORTUNITIES IN CHILD-SAVING WORK C. C. CARSTENS, PH.D. MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOB THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN Several years ago a bright and attractive lad of eight lost his father and went to live with his grandfather, but at this point any apparent similarity with little Lord Fauntleroy ceased. His mother, weak in physique as well as ambition, was able to pro- vide only for herself and the boy's younger sister. The grand- father took the lad in from a sense of duty, but had no affection for him, and it was not long before things became "too hot" for him, and he ran away. A childless family of refinement and ample means in the same town had longed to have a child in their home. The boy was transplanted, and there he found not only enough to satisfy the necessities of life, but also that warm sympathy he had instinctively craved as his birthright. The story in these bare outlines is quickly told, but the task as it was worked out by an experienced, trained woman required education and tact. To give a child the influences of a good home, to put a wayward boy or girl on the right track, to win an adolescent from the road that leads to destruction back upon the path to a wholesome, successful life, with all the physical, intellectual, and spiritual problems that each such task implies, are all in the day's work. Not only these tasks, but the yet more difficult adjustments in family life which concern themselves with improving the char- acter and preserving the integrity of a child's home, are indeed worthy of the best-trained minds and hearts. The theory and practice of this work are now well understood, and the results are so successful in their ultimate analysis that child-saving work SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 41 brings perhaps a larger measure of satisfaction than any other form of social work. While it is difficult to define accurately the qualifications that such work requires, the task may be compared with that of a successful teacher. But just as it is more complex in that the social worker must deal with all the child's interests, it is also more satisfying when plans that have been carefully made come to fruition. Men and women who are now taking the direction of such enterprises are in large measure successful college or uni- versity graduates, who see in this work a form of service to their town and to their commonwealth. The field is rapidly widening, and the tasks are being special- ized. Not only are women filling the more important positions in children's aid work, but some of the most difficult prosecutions of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chil- dren of last year were planned and carried through successfully on the basis of the work of its women agents. Women are now filling the position of superintendent of some of the children's aid societies in the States of Massachusetts and New York. They are visitors and volunteer agents of the metropolitan children's aid societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to chil- dren in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. They are super- intendents and matrons of industrial schools for girls. A young woman of twenty-five, who does not have a passion for teaching, but who is likely to drift along the line of least resist- ance into that work, may very well consider the work of child- saving in one of its many forms. A year or two in a school of philanthropy would lead to a broader outlook and a considerably larger salary at the start, but even without such training, there are openings for capable educated women where they may begin their apprenticeship at from $30 to $50 a month. Those who are successful may in a period of from three to five years raise their salaries to $800 or $900. The salaries of capable women visitors in New York and Boston vary from $600 to $1,200, while de- partment heads are earning from $1,200 to $1,500. Assistant superintendents of the larger societies or superintendents of the smaller organizations are paid from $1,200 to $2,000 per year. The salaries of visitors, agents, or volunteer probation officers 42 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN of societies for the prevention of cruelty to children in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia range from $600 to $1,500. Super- intendents of industrial schools, as well as other officials who are connected with the work for children in various departments, are also frequently recruited from experienced child-saving visi- tors. Their salaries are still larger. The superintendent of an industrial school in Massachusetts with a salary of $1,800 a year besides her home was recently drafted into another State with a salary of $2,500 and home. To summarize: Social workers who have previously been suc- cessful teachers rarely regret having entered child-saving work. The field is widening, and the tasks are being more specialized so that a larger range of ability is in demand. The salaries of those in the ranks are as yet somewhat less than those of teachers, but these also are increasing. Experienced and well-balanced women are constantly sought for positions of responsibility at salaries that can challenge comparison with those paid in other work requiring the same training and responsibility. A wider range of opportunity is open for the successful children's worker than for the teacher. SOCIAL WORK IN HOSPITALS RICHARD C. CABOT, M.D. WHAT IT is. Within the past four years a number of hospitals in Boston, New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, have realized that the aches and pains for which patients seek relief are often the results of insufficient food, of bad housing conditions, of igno- rance as to the simplest rules of hygiene, or of worry, fear, and depression. Since treatment of the patient's symptoms is useless unless their cause is reached, and since this cause turns out often to be social and economic rather than medical, social workers are, in many cases, necessary to efficient treatment or to any treat- ment that is not a waste of time and money. Adequate diet, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 43 fresh air, sound teeth, decent sleeping accommodations, are indis- pensable for the recovery of health in the innumerable cases where disease is the fruit of malnutrition. But doctors and hos- pital superintendents have not time nor training to supply such needs. Domestic, industrial, and psychical maladjustments-must be combated by some one who studies the person as well as his symptom the person in his family relationships or his financial difficulties and his mental and emotional conflicts. This is the task of the social worker in a hospital. Cases in which the doctor feels that he needs assistance are by him referred to the social worker, who has a desk and office hours at the hospital during the clinic hours (usually 9 to 1), and visits patients' homes in the afternoons. She is in constant touch with the other charities of the city, and constitutes a bureau of reference and information in relation to them. She keeps the run of the various hospitals, so that patients needing hospital care may be placed where they belong. She teaches the simple hygienic rules that are so little known to many patients, loans (in appropriate cases) the money necessary for flat-foot plates, false teeth, trusses, and other apparatus, and labors to overcome, by friendly explanation, the rooted prejudice which many patients feel against hospitals and operations. When patients are about to leave the hospital wards, she tries to arrange that they shall not be "dumped," half cured, on the sidewalk, but shall be en- abled to finish convalescence elsewhere, that the good results of hospital treatment may not be annulled by its sudden interrup- tion. Hospital machinery and the rush and bustle of clinics almost obliterate that human touch, that personal and intimate relation to their physician, which most sick people need. The social worker can, to a certain extent, fill this lack. She can do much to make the hospital and the visits of the patient less grim and discouraging. The hospital physician has no time to talk with patients about their plans, their discouragements, their fears and worries, as he does with his private patients. Yet hospital pa- tients need this as much as private patients, and in many cases cannot be cured without it. They recognize the social worker as part of the hospital, readily impart to her confidences that they 44 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN would withhold from most other would-be helpers, and receive her advice with a confidence that no one else but the doctor inspires. The social worker in a hospital has, therefore, a wonderfully favorable opportunity to exercise any capacity for sympathetic listening, wise counsel, and moral re-enforcement that she may possess. Many a patient whom the doctors send to her for advice is at the critical moment of his life. Never again, perhaps, will there be so favorable an opportunity to influence his (or her) whole future career. This is, perhaps, most strongly felt when we face the plight of the girl who learns for the first time at the hospital that she must face the world as "fallen," or live a life of deception to avoid it. PREPARATION. The training for social work such as can be had at the Schools for Social Workers in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago, is the most important study that one can choose in fitting one's self for this work. A knowledge of nursing is also of de- cided but of subordinate value. Some such acquaintance with physiology, hygiene, psychology, and sociology as can be acquired in college, will go a long distance towards equipping a girl for social work in hospitals. Yet, as in all professions, the most important preparation is to be born for it, and the next most important is life itself, its strains and stresses, its disciplines and its inspiration. REMUNERATION. The salaries paid at the Massachusetts General Hospital for work of this kind range from $700 to $1,200 a year. Those who take up the work should beware of offers for half time at half salary. In nine cases out of ten this means that the worker is gradually drawn into doing full time work for half the proper salary. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 45 HOSPITAL SOCIAL WORK GARNET ISABEL PELTON ORIGINAL HEAD-WORKER IN THE SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT OP THE MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL Hospital social work, as at present organized, has been an attempt to do chiefly the four following things: 1. To connect patients obviously needing further assistance with the proper relief agencies. 2. When necessary, to follow up patients in their homes, in order to secure the carrying out of the prescribed treatment, a task which often includes the readjustment of home conditions and the instruction of the family. As such investigation is in many cases a valuable aid to diagnosis, the hospital can turn out more thorough work and check the return of patients. 3. To find out the financial condition of needy patients or those suspected of being frauds. The hospital trust funds de- signed for free beds are thus administered more economically and responsibly. The competent financial investigator at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York gets the information required in each case, and gives wise and sympathetic help to such patients as are really needy. Incidentally, she saves the hospital the amount of her salary. 4. In general, to provide the element of friendliness and per- sonal interest, .which is so likely to be crowded out in the hurry and routine of hospital work and which is so essential to a knowl- edge of the patient and to successful treatment. A social worker dealing with patients in the wards of a hospital finds that her largest task, besides referring patients to other charities, is the after-care of convalescents, especially children, and of chronic cases. Convalescence in the homes of the poor is almost impossible, and convalescent homes are scarce, yet on account of the pressure of acute cases at the hospitals patients are usually discharged when the convalescent stage is barely reached. Bad home conditions, with ignorance of hygiene and 46 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN of the importance of care at this period, bring a long train of evils, such as tuberculosis and other chronic diseases. In such instances the splendid effort of the hospital is largely wasted unless supple- mented by after-care, teaching, and betterment of home condi- tions. Children still in a delicate condition, discharged to ignorant mothers and wretched homes, are a main feature of this difficulty, and here the hospital joins the infant mortality fight. With chronics the extra difficulties to be met are those of con- tinued home care, of occupation diverting or remunerating, and often of support. This threefold problem of after-care offers a chance for the study of home and working conditions in relation to physical breakdown, the value of which, both to the individual and the community, it is not easy to estimate. In out-patient departments or dispensaries (the terms are used synonymously) the greater number of patients sent to the office of the Social Service Department by the clinic doctors need to be referred and piloted for specific help to the proper sources, such as different kinds of relief societies, special hospitals, sanatoriums, homes, interested individuals, and other benevolent agencies. After this first need of linking the hospital with other philan- thropic agencies, the ever-present problem of tuberculosis is likely to loom up in a large way. This is not true in New York, which is thoroughly districted with special clinics for this disease. Where, however, the municipality does not assume its control, tuberculosis is found in general dispensaries in all its insidious forms. The doctor prescribes entire rest, fresh air, and nourish- ing food for consumptive patients, often giving them printed directions emphasizing in detail the dangers of the disease, its chances of cure, and its treatment. These printed slips do not mention, and the doctor has neither the time nor the requisite information to suggest, how a poor man living in a crowded dis- trict, and with a family to support, can carry out the necessary treatment. The social worker is sent to the home. Often it is possible to get the patient into a hospital or sanatorium. If not, the worker gets acquainted with the family, learns its ties with kindred, friends, church, employers, and the neighborhood, and tries to discover within the family or among these close interests possibilities of help and ways of getting extra food, money, care, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 47 and hygienic conditions. These forces, with further help when necessary from outside sources, such as a diet kitchen or a special fund, she fits into a plan that makes the doctor's treatment avail- able, often in the poorest home. She keeps a careful watch over the patient to see that the prescribed treatment is thoroughly carried out, and she teaches the family the care of the patient and the protection of themselves. The root of much misery that comes to the Social Service De- partment is dense ignorance of the fundamental laws of hygiene. The following is not an extraordinary instance. A doctor in the children's clinic patiently instructed an anxious mother on the care of her only child, who was being fed on modified milk. The mother listened attentively, but she understood little English and less hygiene. The baby grew worse, and the social worker was sent to the home to find out why. The child lay in a dark, unventilated room, in the back of a basement. The mother had given him sausage, the prescription of an ignorant neighbor, and the baby died. To teach hygiene in the hospital and in the home so that patients shall be awakened to its signifi- cance and sacredness is a constant and increasingly interesting duty. Nervous disorders, worry, depression, obsession, phobias, due so often to "faulty habits of mind," are not uncommon in the dispensary, and often cause more serious misery and social mal- adjustment than organic disease. By long talks, visits, interest- ing occupation, these sufferers are taught to "side-track their thoughts" and to substitute wholesome habits of body and mind. Workers in charge of these patients are beginning to receive special training, particularly in psychological lines. Thus far hospital social work has dealt with the sex problem chiefly in the case of pregnant girls. The number reached is com- paratively small, but the work is imperative and vital, and calls for the highest qualities of heart and mind. The girl's confidence and trust must be won, so that she can be led to see that her only salvation lies in courageously grasping the very duties her mis- fortune has brought her, her duty to her innocent child and her duty to be truthful to herself and to those who love her. Arrange- ments must be made for her care, and work found where she can 48 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN keep her child. Until she has grown sane and strong enough to walk alone, she must be kept under watchful protection. The handicapped who must work are another large group of the sick poor. For those hampered by physical weakness or disease, victims of tuberculosis, heart disease, rheumatism, ner- vous weakness, and old age, the work chosen should be approved by a physician, and the patient kept under his constant super- vision through the offices of the social worker. A man with one arm does not need a doctor's approval or oversight of his work: a man with a weak heart does. The social worker helps him choose and get his job, and here she gets an opportunity to study industries open and suited to various classes of the handicapped. In municipal and State hospitals where there are alcoholic and prison wards, there is great opportunity for social work and inves- tigation in these two groups. Other opportunities for medical social research work are cropping up continually. Organized hospital social work is being tried in about 30 hospitals at present. The number of workers in each hospital varies from 1 to 8. The idea is spreading and gathering momentum: many leading physicians and philanthropists are warmly in favor of it; a session is to be given to the subject at the National Conference of Charities and Correction in June, 1910. In considering the number of openings for workers, it is merely suggestive to state that according to the last census there were 1,649 hospitals and dispensaries in the country, and that from 1890 to 1900 hospitals increased in number in a greater ratio than any other group of benevolent institutions. It seems probable, therefore, that openings in this work will steadily increase. Earnest purpose, a mind hospitable to "all sorts and conditions of men," eagerness for personal service and for justice, especially to the sick poor, the sympathy that builds up rather than breaks down, imagination, patience, tact, a sense of humor, all these are valuable assets for this work, for personality is what counts most in any worker. A knowledge of the fundamental laws of health is essential, and familiarity with the principles and sources of relief and with public hygiene is important. An acquaintance SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 49 with social problems and local government, economics, psychol- ogy both normal and abnormal, German and Italian (which are the languages of the greater number of our present immigrants), and knowledge of methods of research, all are valuable. Some post-graduate training, preferably at a school of philanthropy, is a good preparation for any part of the work; but such training is not yet essential, and may be gained by experience in the work. Since the work deals only with those who are sick in body or mind, the more nursing and medical experience that can be brought to it, in conjunction with broad education and social training, the richer will be the service, both to the patients and to the com- munity. THE SOCIAL VALUE OF RENT COLLECTING LILIAN MARCHANT SKINNER* WORK OF OCTAVIA HILL. Rent collecting, or, to use a larger name, the management of houses, was first undertaken by Miss Octavia Hill in London. In 1864 and 1865, through Mr. John Ruskin, who believed in the soundness of her idea and invested the necessary money, she became the landlord of a court of small houses. Her plan was simple. She had learned from her work among the poor that with the increase of charities the poor were in- creasingly wanting in energy and in self-reliance; that in the life of cities the rich and poor seemed to be growing farther apart, in the places where they lived and in their way of living; and that natural human relations between them were increasingly difficult to maintain. Miss Hill believed that the management of houses would supply a natural connection, and make possible with a small group of families that friendly and intimate contact without which we can never know the poor really well nor learn their real needs. * Miss Skinner was a volunteer worker under Miss Hill during one winter in London, and for four years managed houses under the Octavia Hill Association of Philadelphia. 50 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN The care of houses where the people are your tenants has in it certain advantages which other work among the poor gains less easily. First. The sense of duty is founded on relationship. The family are tenants: that fact implies your relation to them. The duty performed is not a self -chosen one: the tie is deeper, more like the duty to one's own home, to one's country. Second. The work is permanent. Third. It is definite, and continually demands not only sym- pathy, but action. The proper care of houses requires constant attention to small, very small details. A broken lock, an over- flowing ash-barrel, a quarrelsome neighbor, a brutal husband, all demand some action. Fourth. The duties are mutual: the tenants have duties to you which must be fulfilled. The rent must be paid regularly, and the houses must be kept clean. There can be none of the glamour of almsgiving nor any sense of patronage. Miss Hill's experiment was successful. Her work has grown until she and her fellow-workers manage a very large number of cottages and tenements in different parts of London. The mag- nitude of some of her undertakings and the attitude of owners in putting houses under her care are illustrated in the case of an area in Walworth, a part of the London estates of the Ecclesiasti- cal Commissioners, where recently a ninety-nine year lease fell in. The area comprised twenty-two acres entirely covered by small houses which had to be rebuilt in order properly to house nearly eight hundred families of tenants. The report of the Commissioners, 1906, reads: The Commissioners have recognized that the possession of large areas of land, situated in districts convenient for the houses of the poorer classes,, has imposed upon them the moral obligation to see that the claims of the working class to be provided with healthy homes, in places convenient for their occupations and at reasonable rents, should not be neglected. There is, however, the great difficulty that upon the grant of the leases the future management of the houses necessarily passes into the hands of the lessees, and the Commissioners cannot effectively guard against the evils of sub-letting and overcrowding, nor are the many details on which the well-being of the tenant depends subject to their control. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 51 Therefore, an arrangement has been made by which the actual super- vision and the collection of the rents has been delegated by the Commis- sioners to Miss Octavia Hill and other ladies trained by her to deal with this particular class of property. To Miss Hill's part falls, beside the collection of the rents, the selection of tenants, the ordering of necessary tenant's repairs, the general watchfulness over the maintenance of good order, and against abuse of privileges among the tenants. DIRECTION OF SUCH EFFORTS IN THE UNITED STATES. In the United States work on similar lines has been carried on, though there has not been that recognition of its importance which within the last thirty years has led to its being under- taken in nearly all of the principal cities of Great Britain and in several on the Continent. There are three ways of improving housing conditions in cities : 1. By legislative or municipal restrictions. 2. By the erection of new dwellings, either cottages or tene- ments. 3. By the improvement of existing houses. Miss Hill's effort has been toward the improvement of exist- ing houses and of the tenants in them. The worst and most dilapidated houses shelter those who most need uplift. In this country the few early attempts by individuals were in general on the same lines; but the housing companies formed have in- augurated the building of model tenements. Among such com- panies the Octavia Hill Association of Philadelphia stands alone in its continued attempts to get possession of and to improve existing houses. Usually these undertakings combine two distinct purposes: the purpose to relieve overcrowding, to gradually redeem the slum; and second, the purpose to carry on a vital form of social work. The beginning of such work in this country was made in Boston, in 1871, by a lady who herself collected rents for ten years. The Boston Co-operative Building Company was formed with the purpose to provide good homes at a moderate cost for work- ing people. At present the company employs one woman agent with three assistants, all trained under the company. See Re- ports of the company, covering thirty -nine years of work. 52 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN In 1876 similar work was begun in Brooklyn by Mr. Alfred T. White. Mr. White says: We did not at first employ women rent collectors. Thirty years ago it was difficult to find women suited to such positions who cared to act as agents in tenement houses. For many years now we have been em- ploying women as agents in both blocks of buildings. Their services have averaged more satisfactory than those of men in our work. Com- mon sense, the ability to keep simple accounts, unfailing good nature, and interest in such a line of work are essential qualifications. At present the Improved Dwellings Company, organized by Mr. White, employs two women agents who got their training simply by doing the work. See pamphlet, "Better Homes for Workingmen," by Alfred T. White. In 1896 the Octavia Hill Association was organized in Phila- delphia, the work being begun under the direct inspiration of Miss Hill's ideas by ladies who had themselves already bought and managed certain tenements in the city. This company is the only one to carry out Miss Hill's idea of volunteer collectors, ladies who do the work as social service without pay, each to undertake a small group of families in the hope of establishing continuous and helpful intercourse. Philadelphia is especially adapted to the association's policy of improving existing houses, as overcrowding is not excessive, large tenements have not been erected in very great numbers, and in the older parts of the city many old and well-built houses remain. Since 1906 the work of the association, which includes attempts to further legislative action, has been in charge of a man, but women rent collectors are employed. See Annual Reports of the Octavia Hill Association. In the same year that the Octavia Hill Association was organized in Philadelphia, a company in New York began to work on the most extensive scale yet attempted in this country. The City and Suburban Homes Company of New York began to build and manage model tenements with a capital of $1,000,000, since increased to $4,000,000. The object of the company is to offer to the savings of the people a safe and permanent investment and to furnish wage-earners wholesome homes at current rates. Four- teen women are employed as rent collectors and managers in its SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 53 various buildings. The woman longest in the company's employ was trained in London in Miss Hill's methods: the others were trained by the company. See Reports of the City and Suburban Homes Company. There are three smaller undertakings in New York employing women rent collectors, two of them being a group of tenements owned by ladies. NUMBER OF OPENINGS. A count of these opportunities in New York, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia, shows that the number of openings to women in such work is small. There seems, however, no reason why such work should not be extended. Real estate firms with tenement property might profitably employ women rent collectors, while there is at least one church corporation which might well do as the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (Church of England) have done. The universal testimony from those who have employed women collectors is to their efficiency and native adaptation to this work of careful, patient service. Throughout the eastern part of the United States, north and south, there are some thirty or more instances of factories which have undertaken improved housing for their employees, but there is no instance among them of a woman collector. The tenant comes to the office of the company with his rent or the company deducts rents from the weekly pay-roll. Both of these methods do away with the weekly visit, the stronghold of the careful manager of houses. The manager of one manufacturing company writes: . Some years ago, when we were considering the erection of some addi- tional tenement houses, I visited some three-story flat apartments in Boston, the rents of which were collected by a woman (whom I had the pleasure of meeting) , whose apparent aptitude for this work and whose efficiency in securing results led me to the belief that in many instances women could be very successfully employed in this vocation. Two New England manufacturers write as follows : We do not use women rent collectors, and with tenement property such as our own, do not believe that it would be feasible to do so. 54 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN We have never employed a woman in this capacity, as we have always considered it a man's work. Our tenants are in the main a rather low class of people, and we would not consider this position in particular as being one fitted for a woman. It is just such difficult property and just such a "low class of people" which have been benefited in England and to a certain extent in this country by the patient and continuous work of ladies who bring to their task not only firmness and resolution, but gentleness of manner and of spirit. Speaking of Miss Hill's work in London, Marshall, of Cambridge, the great economist, said, "It is work which no man could have done." TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS. Training for this work cannot be got except by doing the work itself, though almost any form of social work gives some power in dealing with people, which affords the necessary foothold in the management of houses. The chief qualifications are thor- oughness, care and efficiency in accounts, and absolute truthfulness and courtesy in dealing with the tenants. SALARIES. In some instances, especially when the work was in its beginning, salaries were paid by giving 5 per cent, on all collections. This seemed to limit the work of the agent, as the efficient manage- ment of houses implies very much more than actual collections of rent, and it was not possible on this basis to secure the services of well-equipped women. The salaries more usually paid seem to correspond to those in other forms of social work, $600 to $800 a year. In the cases where the service rendered is regarded as clerical work, the salary is less. There are a few instances where the work done is so responsible in its nature that a higher salary is paid. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 55 RENT COLLECTING AS WORK FOR WOMEN BLANCHE GEARY RENT COLLECTOR FOR THE CITY AND SUBURBAN HOMES COMPANY, NEW YORK Rent collecting by women should be restricted to those who are in robust health. The work is wearing physically and men- tally to the strongest, and is assuredly not for the person who breakfasts on a roll and lunches on an eclair. An experienced collector is able to take entire charge of prop- erty, renting it, repairing it, and keeping its accounts. She must know enough of each house-trade to be able to control her em- ployees (carpenters, plumbers, steam-fitters, engineers, painters, etc.) and to keep down expenses with a firm hand. The col- lector must know each tenant, his or her work, family, and sur- roundings; she must have a general knowledge of wages and sal- aries and of local conditions of work; she should be familiar with the working lines of the different charitable and church agencies, the City Departments and officials. A knowledge of babies' ailments and first aid is desirable. The collector should have a special gift for reading character, infinite patience and tact, and should know something of the joy of understanding and of for- giving. There are many openings for women rent collectors. Several are in business for themselves, managing high-class apartment houses in New York City. The owners of model tenements employ women collectors and women superintendents at from $12 to several times that amount per week. The training depends entirely on the experience and character of the recruit. Two years of assiduous, heart-whole work should train a promising recruit for responsibility at perhaps $20 a week. Rent collecting for women is hard work, but it is immensely interesting and well worth while. 56 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN THE ADVANTAGES OF SETTLEMENT WORK FOR WOMEN ROBERT A. WOODS HEAD-WORKER, SOUTH END HOUSE, BOSTON One of the chief difficulties which confront the woman as she leaves her home to enter an occupation is that she finds herself unable to take advantage of the domestic and neighborly in- stincts and training which have so largely been the atmosphere, if not the solid fabric, of her life. Settlement work places women in a field where their pre-eminent capital has scarcity value, and where, beginning from simple and familiar points of view, they may by the exercise of their characteristic and available powers grow toward a position of profound and far-reaching influence in the community. The reinforcement of the life of the home, the reconstruction of the neighborhood, the placing people, particularly the young, in their normal moral setting in the scheme of social intercourse to which they belong, this is the particular part of the building up of the State which is woman's peculiar privilege. As applied to a crowded neighborhood of working people, such service in- cludes a number of specialties, for some of which technical train- ing is desirable, nursing, kindergarten teaching, cookery, dress- making, physical culture, medicine, management of tenement houses and other business enterprises; but in all of these, no less than in more informal club work and neighborhood visiting, the capacity for easy and effective human association is the para- mount thing. Settlement work is a broader and higher development of the work of charity, which has always been understood to be in a special sense a field for women's effort. Settlement work means the application just above the poverty line with proper modi- fications of those approved principles which scientific charity has developed in its experience below the poverty line. It rep- resents a deeper probing of the educational motive upon which SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 57 women by nature have the strongest hold. It has, in fact, done much toward initiating the new and inspiring tendencies toward popular hygienic education, toward vocational training, and toward that culture in the art of democratic association which, for the new century, weaves the indispensable network of social and public morality. Settlement work gives women an indisputable foothold, based on expert knowledge and trained capacity, in some of the most vital phases of municipal reform and progress. The woman who has the woman's sense of the daily ascertained facts as to the needs of the people up and down one street after another, who has the same penetrating, continuous acquaintance with the service rendered by the municipal departments up and down those same streets, holds in her possession some of the most valuable and cogent data for the making over of municipal administration. The woman who goes from her own home in this normal, saga- cious, strategic way is particularly well placed to judge aright the condition and prospects of the myriads of women, mostly girls in fact, who are plunged into the wholly new and confusing counter-currents of factory industry and wage competition. Settlement work is carried on to some extent by volunteers, but every settlement as it grows must have a paid staff. Sti- pends are, as a rule, modest, particularly at first; but as the im- portance and value of one's service are fully demonstrated, and particularly as one develops originality and initiative, the recom- pense is on a basis sufficient to make one properly free of personal financial handicaps. 58 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SOCIAL SETTLEMENT MARY KINGSBURY SIMKHOVITCH HEAD-WOBKER, GREENWICH HOUSE, NEW YORK In this brief statement I shall try to point out (1) the oppor- tunities which the settlement presents to women who desire to enter social work and at the same time be self-supporting, and (2) the aspects of social "research" which are especially available through the settlement. 1. The opportunities for professional work in the settlement will vary according to the degree of social differentiation of the community in which the settlement is situated. In a community without public kindergartens, for example, the settlement will, doubtless, need a kindergarten worker. The settlement cannot be said to present this avenue of opportunity in other than an incidental way, however; as the community develops, the settle- ment will no longer support private kindergartens. Similarly, teachers of domestic science, doctors, nurses, while they may indeed form an important part of a settlement staff, are incidental to the settlement life, as their service may at any time become superfluous. How, then, is it possible or honest to recommend persons with professional training to engage in settlement work? On three grounds: (1) because in some communities it is fairly clear that such work will be needed for a long period of years; (2) because, even when the city or other associations take it over, the settle- ment may still be the best place from which to carry on the work, though the source of payment and the responsibility of the work have changed hands; (3) because the wide social outlook gained at the proper kind of settlement is very advantageous from a professional point of view. It is a form of training not possible at the professional schools, for it is the product of an atmos- phere, a milieu. The nurse's work at the hospital will be one kind of training: seeing her patients in relation to their home and communal environments will be quite another. Similarly, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 59 the student of domestic science will receive training in regard to dietaries at the professional school: at the settlement she will learn to correlate this knowledge with an understanding of the meaning of the standard of life taken as a whole. As the artists say, all the elements in the picture "compose" at the "settle- ment. Each member of the settlement group contributes of his own knowledge to find it modified by the knowledge of another. Is there, then, any kind of "settlement work" which can be considered as a profession by itself, which can be differentiated from other forms of work, and for which there is any economic demand? Settlement positions thus differentiated reduce themselves to executive positions, and such positions as are implied in the proper carrying on of executive work. That is, the head- worker will need assistants. Secretaries and stenographers will be neces- sary. The kind of training, therefore, that is desirable for one who is fitted by nature for this task is training in administration. "Fitted by nature" implies: first, a fund of vital energy; second, a social disposition; and third, a genuine liking of and admiration for simple people. As for training in settlement executive work, it is certainly desirable that beginners expecting to be valuable assistants should equip themselves with a command of the type- writer, short-hand also, if possible, a knowledge of simple book- keeping, and an understanding of modern office methods. If this is supplemented by a practical knowledge of housekeeping, so much the better. As intellectual background for this training, one should have, if possible, some knowledge of economic theory and especially training in economic history, in fact, in history and literature; for the firm grasp of the truth that theories, forms, and values change, and that the possibility of change is open to the present, is the essential intellectual equipment of the social leader. The head of the settlement will be just so much more efficient if she has some knowledge of the special office training indicated for an assistant, but if she cannot be thus specialized, she should, in any case, know how to bring the administration work of the settlement up to the proper degree of efficiency. She should herself have a rich background of information, and should 60 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN be equipped with a habit of dispensing with what she has learned as fast as she finds it false or unusable. The schools of philan- thropy are useful in giving much valuable information and in securing positions for graduates. But an understanding of those great values and forces which are developing from below is learned not from such sources, but, if at all, apart from experi- ence, rather from the bibles, poets, novelists, and artists of the world. Openings for competent head- workers are numerous. The salaries paid to women are small. In fact, many of these positions are held by unsalaried women who are averse to receiving payment for this sort of service or by women who refuse to take the proper amount through a similar disinclination. We believe that this is a wrong point of view, as it tends to keep down proper payment in the case of those women who are equally generous in spirit, but who cannot afford to work for little or nothing, or who do not think it right or self -respectful to do so. The proper course for women who receive a small or no salary would seem to be to accept the salary their work merits, and then, in case they care to return it to their work, to do so. A personal sentiment ought not to be allowed to depress values for others. Women cannot expect at present to receive more than $1,800 as head-workers of settle- ments, or assistants more than $1,000 or $1,200. The average is much lower. Others engaged in professional work spoken of above may expect a salary somewhat below that which their special training would bring in other positions. We think the settlements should unite in properly standardizing salaries, and we believe that this will be done in justice to the work and to coming workers.* * Standards do not seem to be fixed in each settlement for the various posi- tions, either for initial payment or for rates of increase according to time of service, except perhaps for the head- worker; nor is there any standard of payment among the settlements. It is probable that this irregularity of scheme exists to a more marked degree in other cities than in New York. Returns from 13 New York settlements show the following results: Number of workers employed, 109. Head- workers, 13; assistants, 19; sec- retaries, 4; stenographers, 3; paid club leaders, 34; paid industrial teachers, 21. Compensation of workers: Head-workers: initial yearly salary to 1 worker, $500; SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 61 Another variety of settlement worker permanently needed is the group leader the club director. Group leadership is of the greatest possible value. The reason that the social club is so often feeble is because it has not had the proper leader to develop its own forms of self -direction. Such a leader may spring up from within the club, but if this is not the case, the club leader from the outside must have within himself or herself the capacity for true leadership. Such leaders we may expect to find in recreation centres of the public schools, in the field houses of the parks, but also at the settlements, one of the chief functions of which con- tinues to be developing groups of boys and girls till they shall themselves become leaders. There are openings in this field for the well-equipped woman who has a social gift and a vigorous outgoing personality. To become such a social club leader needs for training a good educa- tion, vitality, love of people, and belief in them. Such work demands fineness of understanding and initiative. It requires, also, a liking for the things that appeal to the young motion, color, dancing, drama, and all kinds of festivities as well as the more serious strain, common to all, of interest in the old home and in the home to be, in the wider groups of union, city, nation, and race. For this kind of social leadership there is a real demand. Salaries paid range from $600 to $900. 2. What opportunities does the settlement present as a station for social "research"? The sort of research that is suitable, feasible, and valuable for a settlement to carry on is that which is a by-product of record. That is, if the settlement be properly equipped with records by which a knowledge of the neighborhood and of neighborhood families be kept increasing from year to year, the material for to 2 workers, $600; to 1 worker, $1,000; to 4 workers, $1,200: usual maximum yearly salary to 2 workers, $1,200; to 3 workers, $1,600 to $1,800. Assistants: initial yearly salary to 4 workers, $500; to 3 workers, $600; to 4 workers, $720; to 3 workers, $900: usual maximum salary to 2 workers, $500; to 3 workers, $720; to 5 workers, $900; to 4 workers, $1,000 to $1,200. Secretaries receive $600 to $700 initial salary, and $720 to $900 usual maximum salary. Club leaders re- ceive $60 to $75 per month, or $2 to $2.50 per hour or evening. Industrial teachers receive $600 to $900 per year, or $2 to $2.50 per hour or lesson. ED. 62 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN "research" would be at hand without relying upon the sporadic "investigator." The social investigator has become so frequent as to be a real pest. If all the requests of all the investigators even the really good ones were to be answered by the settle- ments, the settlements would have to stop all their own work to make reply. And yet, that the settlements have accumulated a vast amount of socially useful material which is not available and which should be available cannot be doubted. The trouble lies in the way in which this material gets accumulated and registered, first, in the brains and hearts of the workers, and second, in a most imperfect record. In the former way it may find expression in some large, effective, and artistic form, as in the case of Miss Addams's books, or it may be lost entirely from lack of expression. In the second way it is at best only partially use- ful, often not at all. The highest type of "research" is the transmuted artistic ex- pression of research we find in the occasional literary productions of settlement residents; the next best thing is the continuous record, not yet existent to any extent, but likely to be kept in the future; and the third and least desirable form is the occasional investigation. For this last form there will be some demand, from time to time, as needs indicate. Those who are equipped for social research in any field will be competent to conduct some occasional settlement investigations, but will work to greater advantage if they have been in residence in the given community for some time previous to the investigation. It is necessary to learn the relative importance of facts to be ascertained and how to recognize their validity when registered. Training in this field is at present fragmentary, but it is to be had in some settle- ments, and at some colleges and schools of philanthropy. To sum up, the college girl who desires to enter a settlement, there to undertake her life's work, would better get such training as will lead to taking an executive position of responsibility. If she desires to engage in any special branch of work now under- taken by settlements, such as nursing, cooking, etc., she should get the best possible professional training, which will always stand her in good stead even though the settlement should give up that kind of work. If she desires to do research work, the settle- SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 63 ment offers but a limited opportunity, as its own research work of greatest value consists of bringing together its registered or un- registered experience. To become an assistant, either in a per- manent position or with the hope of rising to be in charge of a settlement, special training in office work and administration is desirable. WELFARE WORK AND THE WELFARE WORKER FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE BUSINESS HOUSE Welfare work, as it is carried on in business houses, manu- facturing establishments, etc., is in the main an effort to secure improved conditions of labor. It is an effort also in part to raise the employee to a higher point of efficiency, both for his own good and for that of the employer. It is a recognition by the em- ployer that what benefits the employee benefits him, and it is expected to promote, on the other hand, a recognition by the employee that the best interest of the employer is the best in- terest of the employee, and that what hurts the employer directly or indirectly hurts the employee. Welfare work is either philanthropic or co-operative. It is sometimes a purely philanthropic scheme of the employer, who appropriates his money to it precisely as he does to the Asso- ciated Charity. The more progressive business man, on the other hand, reckons it purely as a good business proposition for secur- ing the best service from his employees, and realizes that this business value is in danger of being lost the minute he allows his welfare work to become either charity or advertising. This difference in welfare work is shown, however, not so much in different lines of activity as in the different ways in which prac- tically the same things are done. One employer does the welfare work for his people, while the other helps, organizes, and inspires them to do for themselves co-operatively such things as appeal to their tastes and needs. The main effort of this kind is to help the individual help himself. 64 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Welfare work has come to include whatever can be done to benefit : PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THE EMPLOYEE. Sickness in the establishment itself must be taken care of, and in many places a trained nurse is in constant attendance in a sick-room to treat and advise. Often a minor ill is cured, and the patient rendered fit to perform a regular day's work. In old days this frequently meant a day at home, with consequent loss of money to the employee and of service to the employer. A patient in a really serious condition is directed to a reputable physician. Arrangements may also be made to secure the ser- vices of physicians free of charge to the employees. Outside of the establishment sick employees need attention to see that they are not lying neglected in lodging houses or for some other cause suffering from lack of proper care In addition to the sick-room, rest and recreation rooms are frequently provided for the noon hours, where the employees may enjoy reading, dancing, and games. Gymnasium classes, dancing classes, baths, are included in this division. Hygienic working conditions in the building itself need watch- ful care, sanitary toilets, good ventilation, light, etc. Home conditions and personal mode of living may be in- fluenced by friendly advice or example. In communities where employees live together, prizes may be offered for the best garden, neatest yard, etc., or perhaps there is a neighborhood visitor. If the houses are owned by the corporation, sanitary conditions can be more carefully taken care of. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. Mutual benefit organizations to protect the employee from total loss of income during sickness are the most common of the efforts made in this group. Savings departments encourage self- protection and frugality. Loan departments save the employee from the clutches of money sharks and do away with the habit of borrowing among fellow-employees. They may give assistance SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 65 and advice to employees in choosing investments for their money. They may be helpful in finding rooms, houses, or in finding ten- ants for rooms. Systems can be worked out for co-operative buy- ing. Anything which gives the individual the most for his money or helps him to take care of his money is legitimate welfare work. Lunch-rooms whose aim is to give the best food for the least money belong in this division. EDUCATION. This includes technical instruction in the special work of the employee, and general education through public evening schools or by classes carried on at the direction of the employer. In many instances, educational and social work are combined in such forms as lectures, reading clubs, debating societies, current events circles, libraries, and the like. SOCIAL LIFE. Dances, entertainments, lectures, glee clubs, dramatic clubs, and all other schemes that may be devised to bring the employees together in a friendly social way, making them know one another better, are made use of as means of securing a pleasanter atmos- phere in working together. MENTAL CONDITIONS. Secure justice for employees; give them a voice in their gov- ernment; let them arbitrate their grievances; have an arbitra- tion board and back up its decisions. This is the way of the most progressive houses. In most cases the welfare worker stands as an intermediary or arbitrator between the manage- ment and the employees. In many instances all that is neces- sary is to act as a safety-valve for pent up feelings of imaginary injustice. This work is not less valuable than when the injustice is real. Little acts of friendliness, letters, visits or flowers in cases of illness or trouble, and such other proofs of interest as opportunity may offer, are very real helps toward keeping an atmosphere of content. 66 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN All these things come under the care and attention of a wel- fare worker. She may be obliged to furnish ideas and enthusiasm, and then do all the work; she may be able to delegate all or parts of the practical duties and this is a better way. In either case she must furnish the impetus, must see that everything runs smoothly, and that it keeps going; she must be ready at any mo- ment to step in where there is a lack or weakness in the organiza- tion of any part of the work. While this formal or mechanical kind of work may be consigned to some one else, the personal, friendly touch can never be dele- gated. The welfare worker must know as a friend every one with whom she is working. She should be able to call them by name, and should keep in touch with their outside life, their pleasures or difficulties. She must win their confidence, never force it, never betray it. She must never show favoritism in her friendships, much less in her efforts to help. She must not be too much or too little influenced by stories of trouble that come to her ear, but must measure up the case by some standard, discounting or enlarging until she can get the actual facts. She must not set the standard of assistance too high, else she will not be able to live up to it in some cases of great trouble. As an arbitrator she must not only be able to see the employee's side, but must be well informed as to the existing conditions,, irrespective of either side, and she must be in touch with the em- ployer's point of view. She must herself keep in mind the prin- ciple which she is trying to impress on others, that the interests of employer and employee are identical. She is not an attorney for the employee, regardless of the truth of the matter. She is expected to see that justice is done the employee, and she may plead for leniency when she believes leniency is wise. In case of doubt, she should do her best to strengthen the side of the em- ployee, for it is naturally supposed that the employer has the stronger side. The qualities usually sought in a welfare worker are a large sympathy, a keen insight into human nature, tactfulness, adapta- bility, excellent health, initiative, sound judgment, absolute re- sponsibility. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 67 Training for this kind of work can best be secured by working and observing as an apprentice with a successful welfare manager. In most cases this apprenticeship has been not longer than three months and under only one master. Because of the newness of the work, and the variation of method, it would be far better for the training to extend over six months and be taken under two or more practical workers. There is a natural tendency to prefer college women for this work. It requires at least a general education in evolutionary science, history and civics, sociology, ethics, literature. Special preparation may be desirable in physical culture, hygiene, li- brary system, principles of law, domestic science, business prin- ciples and system, etc., the value of any line of special training depending upon the class of employees and the line of work to be emphasized. Some meagre attention to the theory and history of welfare work is given by such schools as train more particularly for charity and philanthropic work. The wages of welfare workers range from $1,000 to $3,000 a year, the less figure being by far the most common. An idea of the number of openings may be gained from the following list of some of the kinds of businesses which have a welfare manager: carriage springs company, celluloid workers, confectioners, cordage company, cotton mills, cravat manufact- urer, department store, drill, sheetings manufacturers, dyers and bleachers, electrical companies, food companies, insurance com- panies, jewelry manufacturers, laundries, locomotive company, lumber company, machine makers, marble company, mathemat- ical instrument manufacturers, overall manufacturers, paint factory, paper box companies, pickle factories, potters, printing press, publishing company, shoe factories, soap makers, steam railroads, street railroads, wire rope manufacturers. 68 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN THE YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION ELIZABETH WILSON SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL BOARD The Young Women's Christian Association is a world-wide organization, which has for its purpose the voluntary association of young women for their physical, social, intellectual, and spir- itual development. Such associations exist in cities, in student centres, in industrial and rural communities. The administration is in the hands of volunteer workers (active members, elected to serve on boards of directors, cabinets, and committees) and of salaried workers called secretaries or department directors. The secretaries are trained executive officers who investigate condi- tions, advise with volunteer workers, and execute the measures decided upon in board and committee meetings. At the present time American secretaries are serving in London, in Paris, in Australia, in Japan, China, India, and South America. There are 26 secretaries of the National Board, whose duties are the general administration for the National Board and its work of summer conferences, training for secretaries, develop- ment of plans for work in State universities and professional schools, Bible teaching in college associations, work in factories, mill villages, rural districts, physical education, erection of build- ings, etc. There is also a national office staff, in which the ma- jority of the department office secretaries, as well as of the regular secretaries of the National Board, hold college degrees. For the State and Territorial committees, with headquarters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, etc., 35 secretaries are engaged in visitation of local associations to which they hold advisory relations. Thirty-eight universities and colleges employ a general secretary, and one university (Illinois) employs also a Bible study director. In the 192 city associations of the country, women are engaged in various executive, religious, industrial, educational, and domestic capacities. A few women are engaged in the mill villages now carrying on Young Women's Christian Association work, and SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 69 one county (Woodford County, Illinois) is sufficiently organized to employ a secretary for its small towns and country districts. There are probably about 800 or 900 positions for which col- lege women, with distinct professional training also, are eligible. Many of these positions are now filled by women lacking the de- sired educational foundation. Others are vacant because women of the right calibre and training or experience are not available. Each year fully 15 per cent, of these positions must be filled by incoming workers. The varied duties of all these positions demand that the salaried officers, before they think of preparing for professional work, have well-proved executive ability in those affairs in which they have been naturally interested; good physical health and nervous poise; a mind not only well informed, but vigorous in grasping new situations; a genuine social sense and a wholesome sympathy and interest in young women and girls; an attractive, natural Christian life, and willingness to co-operate with religious and social forward movements. As a preparation for entering this work for the first time, a college education is thought desirable. In the last few years, too, the question of professional training has secured a great deal of attention, since the largest success of the whole movement was felt to depend upon properly prepared executive officers. The Young Men's Christian Association has for some time maintained two training schools, one in Springfield, Mass., the other in Chi- cago, 111. When the Young Women's Christian Associations of the United States of America were formed in 1906, the National Board took over the Secretaries' Training Institute originally opened by the American Committee in Chicago, and then in 1908 discontinued this, and opened a National Training School at 3 Gramercy Park, New York City, with a system of preparatory training centres throughout the country. The National Training School is designed for trained workers or women of experience in other movements, desirous of entering the Young Women's Christian Association. A two years' course is offered for religious work directors, a one year's course for city general secretaries, student general secretaries, industrial, state and territorial, and foreign secretaries. 70 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN The young woman just graduating from college, if sufficiently mature, is advised to enter the training centre conducted by the State or Territorial Committee in her own locality. This is a three months' term of practical work in a large association, where a slight course of study is pursued, which fits the student to take a minor position, with salary, or to enter the National Training School to prepare for a position of large responsibility. The actual expense involved during the three months' training-centre course is about one hundred dollars. The expense of a year at the National Training School is $350, which includes tuition, board, and lodging. The general association has as yet made no provision for ele- mentary training for physical directors and teachers of domestic science and domestic art, but the Secretarial Department comes into communication with the best normal schools of these sub- jects, and refers workers to vacancies throughout the country. It is hoped that no young woman may take a position immedi- ately after her preparatory training at a smaller salary than $600 per year, or after the National Training School course for less than from $900 to $1,200. The range of salaries extends at present as high as $2,300 for general supervisory work and $1,800 for local. Many associations have instituted a regular scale of annual increase, and when a secretary -enters a new position, it is customary for her to receive a larger salary than in the previous one. There must also be taken into account the number and character of extra advantages or perquisites possible in connection with the conferences and conventions to which the secretary is usually sent with expenses paid. Printed matter The Catalogue of the National Training School, The Training Centre, The Executive of the Association, etc. 'will be sent upon application to the Secretarial Department, 125 East 27th Street, New York City. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 71 NURSING LILLIAN D. WALD HEAD-WORKER, HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT (NURSES' SETTLEMENT), NEW YORK The work of Florence Nightingale some fifty years ago brought to the rank of a profession an occupation which through the ages has proved to be one peculiarly adapted to women. Times have changed since the pioneer days of Miss Nightingale, and many vocational opportunities have been granted to women that in her day were deemed unsuitable, for economic and social changes have played their part in freeing women from artificial limitations. To-day nursing in itself is, as it has always been, a profession that calls into play the high qualities inherent in many women, but far greater scope is given for diversified application of these qualities. HOSPITAL SUPERINTENDENTS. In America especially, since the social welfare movements have become prominent, the demand for women of general education and special hospital training has thus far exceeded the numbers equipped for such positions. Attractive and responsible ad- ministrative, educational, and executive positions are offered, and as yet with no adequate source of supply. Increasing numbers of women are being selected as superintendents of hospitals. Within the last fifteen years the numbers of such positions offered to nurses has increased 100 per cent., and the salaries com- pare very favorably with those of other educational and execu- tive posts. They range from $1,000 with board, laundry, etc., to $2,500, and although the small hospitals pay less, their directors express a readiness to pay the higher salary to competent women. Qualifications for such positions are knowledge of intelligent pur- chasing of supplies of all kinds, practical knowledge of the appli- cation of the science of food to human needs, administrative ability, which includes tact, culture, and good judgment, and teaching faculty, in addition to the nurse's training. 72 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN TRAINING SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS. Superintendency of training schools calls for knowledge of pedagogy, and the opportunities for good class work are not sur- passed by those of any educational position. In this instance the power to teach organization and to transmit knowledge that can be related to practical work is essential. These positions are capable of being made influential and distinguished in proportion to the capacity of the one in charge to command respect and deference for herself and her position. Fortunately, instruction in the training schools is not yet conventionalized, and there are opportunities for original methods and creative work. HEAD-NURSE. TEACHER-NURSE. DIETITIAN. In addition to superintendents' positions numerous openings are offered in institutions to teacher-nurses. Changes brought about in the administration of hospitals have necessitated this, and the development of preparatory courses for nurse-pupils pre- sents a new field for the graduate nurse who has special aptitude for teaching. Institutions of many kinds call for the skilled dietitian. Many demand that she shall also be a nurse. Special hospital colonies, camp sanatoria for the tuberculous, schools for children predisposed to this disease, orphanages, institutions for the feeble-minded and the epileptic, for the blind, the crippled, and the sub-normal, are asking for instructors and supervisors who are also nurses. PREVENTIVE SOCIAL WELFARE WORK. Perhaps the work that is most attractive to the educated woman who is also a trained nurse is that presented in the broad field of preventive social work, and in this there seems to be no limit to her opportunities. District nursing includes many, if not all, of these. The nurse engaged in this work has always had great social opportunities, and she has expressed herself more or less in the moral movements of her time. Living in the settlement, working jointly with the other forces for social progress, has widened out her horizon and attracted attention to the district nurse's potentialities. Medical inspection in the public schools SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SERVICE 73 has been expanded through the addition of the nurse. Practical teaching and nursing in the tuberculosis campaign has been, and is, to a large extent, in her hands. The direction and active par- ticipation in the movement for pure milk, factory inspection, tenement-house inspection, and probation work, are but a few of the preventive social measures that have increased the in- terest and exercised the faculties of the nurse. STATE AND MUNICIPAL SERVICE. The rapid increase in America in the past five years of the so- cially trained nurse is prophetic of the future. State and muni- cipality engage the nurse at present. They will need her in- creasingly. Her work has the appeal of humanitarianism, of being essentially prophylactic, educational, and socially con- structive. The training schools attached to the important hos- pitals are in the hands of able people, alive to the demands of the day. They welcome the students who come with adequate mental training, able to keep the profession in its high place and ready to push it on to meet new demands. II SCIENTIFIC WORK WOMEN TRAINED IN CHEMISTRY JAMES F. NORRIS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, SIMMONS COLLEGE The number of women engaged in the practice of chemistry is relatively small on account of the fact that but few have pre- pared themselves for work in this field. Women have proved their worth as chemists. It is the belief of the writer that many places are open to those who are well trained in the science. In considering the advisability of selecting chemistry as a life- work, certain important facts must be borne in mind : 1. A woman must have excellent health and be able to with- stand fatigue in order to accomplish what is required of her. The work which she will be called upon to do consists largely of experimentation in the laboratory. This makes it necessary, in many cases, to stand for most of the working hours. 2. Adequate preparation for the work is obtained only as the result of thorough and comprehensive training. In entering the field of chemistry, women are, in most instances, coming directly into competition with men, and if they are to make a place for themselves, they must be as well prepared. Adequate prepara- tion to gain a livelihood through the practice of chemistry requires at least four years' study. 3. The pecuniary reward is not large, although successful work yields a good living. In many positions open to women the work is varied, and is of such a nature that it appeals strongly to one who is interested in science. 4. In order to practise chemistry successfully, the woman should have a certain adaptability to the work: a special type of 74 SCIENTIFIC WORK 75 mind is required. One who is to do successful work in chemistry must have the power to reason logically and the ability to observe clearly. These important qualifications are developed during the study of the science, but this study should be undertaken only by those who have given some evidence that they possess the type of mind required. The most practical positions open to women well trained in chemistry are those in manufacturing establishments. The writer is acquainted with women who have filled with success the positions of chemist in a woollen mill, soap factory, electrical works, and a razor factory. Such positions require hard work, and not many women enter this field. Within a year the head of the research department of a large manufacturing establishment was seeking a woman to put in charge of the analytical laboratory connected with the department. The work had been under the direction of a woman, and the results were so satisfactory that the employer was anxious to fill the vacancy, caused by resigna- tion, by the appointment of another woman. Other opportunities are in the field of sanitary chemistry. Women are employed in the laboratories of the State Boards of Health. Positions in private laboratories of sanitary engineers are also available. The laboratory work in the chemical and biological examination of water by a well-known engineer is done by a woman. There is opportunity for women to secure remunerative posi- tions under the United States Government in the Department of Agriculture. These positions involve work of various types from that of assistant to that of research chemist. An important re- search laboratory of the Department, which deals with the sub- ject of food preservation, is under the direction of a woman. Women who develop a keen interest in chemistry during their study and show a special adaptability .may find interesting work as research assistants. There are not many such positions available at present, but the number is increasing. Work of this kind is, perhaps, the most interesting that can be undertaken, as there is no set routine and the nature of the laboratory work changes from day to day. The interest is enhanced by the fact that the results obtained are additions to the science. 76 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN From the experience of the last few years it is evident that there is developing a need for women to act as scientific secretaries. In some positions the work is largely secretarial, as in the case of a secretary to an author who is writing a book on a scientific sub- ject. In others the work is largely experimental. In order to fill such positions, a woman must have a knowledge of the duties of a secretary and some training in science as well. The compensation which is received for the high grade of work necessary in such positions is small, and not at all commensurate with the training required to fit one for such work. The highest salaries are received by those who enter the more practical posi- tions, where the duties are the most arduous. Research assist- ants and scientific secretaries receive the smallest compensation. In such positions the work required is not so trying, and the sur- roundings are more congenial. The salary received the first year after the completion of one's training is usually $400 to $600. Last year a woman who had had two years' experience was appointed to the position of scientific secretary at a salary of $1,000, and a position was open at a salary of $1,200 to a woman who was trained as an analytical chemist. Only in exceptional cases and in positions under the Government will the compensa- tion exceed $1,000. WOMEN TRAINED IN BIOLOGY PERCY G. STILES ASSISTANT PBOFEBSOB OF PHYSIOLOGY, SIMMONS COLLEGE While it is the object of the present article to suggest some posi- tions outside the teaching profession in which trained women may find congenial work, the writer cannot refrain from stating at the outset his conviction that teaching is by far the most remunerative occupation in which such women can engage. Many of the other pursuits which are to be mentioned may be followed simultaneously with teaching. Biological education may have a general character, and furnish SCIENTIFIC WORK 77 the preparation needed for the teaching of nature study or high- school science. It may be preliminary to a course in medicine. But it will usually develop a specialty. We may therefore con- sider successively the chief branches of biology, and the nature of the openings to which they lead. Anatomy and Histology. The study of these sciences fits for comparatively few situations. If the graduate does not wish to teach, there remains the possibility of assisting professors of these subjects. The preparation of slides for microscopic work calls for considerable manual skill and theoretical knowledge. Such slides are required in large numbers for classes in medical schools, for pathologists working in connection with hospitals, and for investigators in agricultural colleges and experiment stations. Assistants in this line may add somewhat to their income by selling sets of histological and embryological preparations, as there is some demand for them from schools which are not equipped to make their own. Botany, Forestry, and Horticulture. Now and then a civil ser- vice position calling for an incumbent educated in these sciences becomes available. Agricultural experiment stations may employ a small number of such women. Bacteriology. A thorough training in this branch, including both its medical and non-medical aspects, should open the way to a variety of occupations. Indoor positions in laboratories of Boards of Health, both of States and of large cities, may be well filled by women, though but few are yet so filled. For these situ- ations, training in chemical analysis must accompany the mastery of bacteriological technique. The duties will comprise the testing of water and milk, diagnostic procedures, and perhaps the prepa- ration of anti-toxins, vaccines, etc. Separate laboratories under private management exist for the last-named purpose, and may give work to women in the future. Bacteriologists are now em- ployed by milk contractors to see to it that the milk meets the legal requirements. Women can do this work when it does not demand too much travel and exposure in collecting samples. More agreeable positions may be found in connection with model dairies producing certified or other special milk. The number of these is rapidly increasing, and each must employ the services 78 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN of an up-to-date bacteriologist. A single farm, however, is not likely to absorb more than a part of the specialist's time. A woman who has some capital and business faculty, besides scien- tific knowledge, may become the mistress of such a dairy. Re- search in bacteriology is enlisting a number of trained workers on the Rockefeller and other foundations. Physiology. Education in this science leads usually to teaching or to the position of research assistant with some professor of the subject. It is also an excellent approach to the wide field of physical training. Specialization in pharmacology may fit one for an occasional opening under the Government or with manu- facturing chemists where the testing and standardizing of drugs is carried on. Zoology. A command of this branch of biology may qualify the student for research and in exceptional cases for the service of the Government, conceivably in the investigation of insect pests or in the work of the Fish Commission. Composite Equipment. In a few instances, women have secured a good general training in biology and at the same time have qualified in stenography and typewriting. It is evident that this combination enables one to be exceptionally useful to a busy professor, especially if he is a writer of scientific books and pam- phlets. Such an assistant may be of still greater service if she has a reading knowledge of technical French and German, so that she can prepare abstracts of biological literature. Facility in drawing is another asset enabling one to prepare illustrations for articles or to make charts with an intelligence impossible to the ordinary draftsman. Skill in photography may be valuable in some situations. Salaries. The college graduate who has made as much as pos- sible of her biology should receive at once a minimum salary of $600. Advances upon this figure will usually be slow. Here, as elsewhere, the worker must find her highest reward in the intrinsic interest of her vocation. SCIENTIFIC WORK 79 OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The fact that there are opportunities for women in museum work is shown by the conditions in the Museum of Natural History, New York. 1. Members of the Scientific Staff. There are no women cura- tors, but two women now serve on the regular scientific staff. They were appointed because they are very able specialists, probably as good as any in the country in a small branch of their subject. No doubt others will be appointed in other de- partments when women are found with such special power and knowledge. The museum has no rule in these matters, and does not draw the sex line. There is no uniform basis for salaries; men and women are paid according to their ability from $1,500 to $1,800. 2. Research and Editorial Assistants. There are two assistants with special biological training in one department, a woman and a man. The work consists chiefly in aiding the curator in get- ting out publications, in studying specimens, reviewing litera- ture, making abstracts and translations, and superintending the illustration and publication of books and papers. The salary of these assistants is $1,500. 3. Museum Instructor. There is one instructor at present, whose duty it is to conduct classes for children on the basis of the collections and to explain exhibits to visitors on request. The salary varies with the ability of the woman, but is about $1,200. 4. Secretaries. There are ten or fifteen secretaries in the mu- seum. The maximum salary is $1,200; that commonly paid, $800 or $1,000. 5. Recording Secretaries. These women do only cataloguing and filing. The maximum salary is $1,000. 6. Librarians and Library Assistants. These women need some library training. The salaries of the former are $1,000 to $1,200; of the latter, $500 to $800, approximately. 80 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN 7. Book-binders. These women do hand binding. Their salary is about $600 or $700. Photograph binders are paid about the same salary. 8. Illustrators. Their work is chiefly in pen and ink, but in- cludes also some wash drawings of scientific specimens and also map drawings. They are paid 50 cents to 70 cents per hour according to their skill. Coloring slides and transparencies is paid at about the same rate. 9. Makers of Artificial Flowers, etc., for exhibition groups. The maximum salary is $1,000. For this work it is necessary to serve an apprenticeship of several weeks or months in the museum without pay. No training other than this is required, though some acquaintance with plants is desirable. Theoretically, every position in this museum is open to women, and as the above report shows, women specially trained in science are now holding places of responsibility, while many more with less specialized training are filling minor positions. Ill DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS DOMESTIC SCIENCE THE FIELD OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE HELEN KINNE PROFESSOR OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE, TEACHERS COLLEGE, NEW YORK The rapid growth of the Home Economics movement in the last quarter century, meeting, as it does, a social and economic need, has opened to women a number of business occupations that are both remunerative and satisfying to the individual. This paper is confined to a discussion of those occupations for which Domes- tic Science gives training. The teaching field in Domestic Science is so far the most fully developed. It should be stated at once that it is unwise for any woman to devote herself at the beginning of her work to Domestic Science alone, since the present demand is in most cases for a woman who can teach the subjects included in this field and some of those connected with the textile arts. This work is now found in all grades of the lower schools, and also in colleges and univer- sities. There is now scarcely an institution of a philanthropic nature that does not include work along these lines, so that in settlements and in church work and in industrial schools of all kinds some form of the subject is given. A college graduate who has had strong courses in sciences has the necessary grounding for her work. These sciences should include biology, chemistry (both inorganic and organic), physics, and also sociology and economics. Her special training in advance of this should in- clude nutrition and dietetics, sanitation and hygiene, the practi- 81 82 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN cal study of the household arts, supplementary and applied work in economics and sociology, and methods of teaching. Such a course in Home Economics may be found in several training schools and colleges. It may be that the younger college women, after taking train- ing in Home Economics, will need to spend a year or so in the elementary field to gain the experience in teaching that most superintendents and supervisors now require. This, however, should not be looked upon as a hardship, for there is great need of strong work in Home Economics in the elementary schools of this country. It is here, indeed, that one perhaps comes most closely in contact with the actual problems of the people, because comparatively few of our young girls pass beyond the elementary school. In the elementary schools the salaries range from $800 to $1,200 a year. A young woman working in an elementary school has the possibility of advance along two lines. If she has business ability and the power to deal with people, and can take some advanced training, she may become supervisor of either Domestic Science or Domestic Art, or both. Of course, these posi- tions are somewhat rare and require maturity, and are something for the future rather than for the young woman just leaving col- lege. The salary of a city supervisor now ranges from $2,000 to $3,000 a year. The secondary field is now affording rich opportunities for the teaching of Domestic Science. Technical and practical arts high schools are springing up all over the country, and many high schools of the older type are introducing the subject. In the practical arts high schools the subject is designed not only to train the pupils for home life, but also to give them something which may serve as a means of gaining a livelihood. The High School of Practical Arts, Dorchester, Mass., is of this type. In the general or classical high school the subject is given as train- ing for the home, and is usually developed more along scientific lines. Only a woman with a very strong practical tendency should go into industrial work. This term is used as meaning something rather different from the work given in the practical arts high school. Work, for instance, in a State reformatory is of a decidedly industrial character. It is given to older women DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 83 in order to train them in carrying on the work of the institution or to give them a respectable trade when they leave the institu- tion. In industrial work of this character and in settlement work a keen interest in one's fellow-beings is an absolute essential; not only that, but the power of insight, the ability to meet people on their own ground. In college and university work there is a place for the young woman whose interest is along these lines, but who perhaps has the more scholarly bent. For college and university work the training in sciences should be more severe than that given in the ordinary undergraduate course. Our best training schools are now offering advanced work under able instructors, which counts for an M.A. or even a Ph.D. Although our training schools are graduating an increasing number of candidates for such positions, the supply of thoroughly efficient and well- trained teachers has not yet equalled the demand. Salaries vary in different parts of the country for secondary and college teaching, and the cost of living in a given locality must always be taken into account. They compare favorably with teachers' salaries in general, and range from $800 for the inexperienced assistant to $2,500 or $3,000 for the head of a college department. But there are other fields than teaching for the woman trained in Domestic Science. The value of applied science is steadily gaining recognition. The great interest in nutrition manifest in so many quarters has given a new interpretation to the posi- tion of matron or supervisor of the dining-room of the large institution. For many years practical women have done good work as stewards and housekeepers. But, on the whole, the dietaries of our college and school dormitories and even of our hospitals have fallen far short of the requirements for proper nutrition. This is felt so strongly in most progressive institu- tions that the dietitian is coming to rank with members of the teaching staff; and in our hospitals severe training is required in preparation. With the demand for practical women who also have training on the scientific side there has happily come an increase in the salary. A letter written on April 8, 1909, from a hospital committee (of an institution of good standing in the West) says: 84 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN We want a woman (as Superintendent of Hospital Economics) who is more highly trained and more capable than those who commonly fill positions as housekeepers or matrons of hospitals. In a word, we want a domestic scientist trained, to a certain degree, for institution work, one who will bring scientific principles to bear upon the conduct of all the domestic affairs of the hospital, including service, kitchens, laundries, food supplies, dietaries, and the teaching of dietetics. . . . We expect to pay a salary of about $1,200 a year in addition to living expenses. It is hardly fair to say that such a salary as this is given in all cases; but taking into account the fact that all living expenses are paid, including laundry, a salary of $800 in addition to this is very fair, compared with salaries in other occupations. It must be noted that no college training, and no training in any Domestic Science school in mere subject-matter, is sufficient for such a position. Practical experience as an apprentice in the workings of an institution is absolutely essential at the very be- ginning. A few of our institutions where Domestic Science is taught are now opening up courses in Institutional Management, where actual experience will be given in dealing with the problems of the institution. A three months' course is also open to a lim- ited number of students in the Department of Charities of New York City, where a young woman who has had a course in Domes- tic Science may have practical work in institutional kitchens for this length of time. This is certainly an excellent field for the scientifically trained and thoroughly practical young woman. It is said by a number of instructors engaged in Domestic Sci- ence training schools that the supply of competent women is not equal to the demand for trained dietitians. The demand in our large cities for lunch-rooms near the centre of business also affords opportunity for the enterprising young woman. We are all familiar with the fact that tea-rooms and lunch-rooms are springing up on almost every corner in certain localities in many of our large cities. In many cases these are run successfully by women who have had no training outside of that to be found in practical housekeeping. One of the most successful enterprises of this kind is conducted by a young woman in Boston who is a college graduate. She became assistant in a large and well-conducted lunch-room in a Western city, and then DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 85 began in a small way in Boston. She has now one of the most successful groups of lunch-rooms in the country. It is, of course, necessary to have capital, and it is here that many young women would find difficulty. But at least at the beginning a young woman could act as an assistant in some such enterprise and perhaps launch out for herself later. As yet the statistics are incomplete in regard to this work. This is a field that needs further inves- tigation. Catering is perhaps somewhat more precarious, since a woman must know her locality well before she can work up any large amount of business; and unless she is known in a neighborhood, it might be difficult for her at first to make her way. There is no doubt, however, that this is a growing field. This and the selling of cooked food have hardly developed as yet into trades or occupa- tions, but in every city will be found some few women who have worked up a remunerative business. Both in lunch-room work and in catering one needs to know the business field and business methods, and in catering one must be an expert in social usage. Laundering is not treated in this article, but this is doubtless a field that will develop in the future. Altogether, in the group of occupations for which a Domestic Science course would give training, there is abundant opportunity for the young woman with initiative and business ability. THE INSTITUTIONAL DIETITIAN FLORENCE R. CORBETT INSTRUCTOR AT TEACHERS COLLEGE, DIETITIAN AND HEAD OF WHITTIER HALL DINING- ROOMS, CONSULTING DIETITIAN TO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CHARITIES or NEW YORK CITY THE FIELD OF WORK. The institutional dietitian finds work in various divisions of the dietary or the food administration department of the insti- tution, but is most useful when she is prepared, by reason of native ability, special training, and experience, to undertake the supervision of the entire dietary department and all the phases 86 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN of food administration in the institution. Whenever the in- stitution is of such size (census over two hundred) that it is im- possible for one person to supervise successfully the detail work of the dietary department, the organization is strengthened by giving assistance to the capable director rather than by dividing the responsibility. Where, for any reason, it is found impracticable to give over the entire food administration to one person, the trained dietitian is found to be useful in supervising smaller fields or divisions of work in the dietary department of the institution; as, for example, the preparation of special diet for ward patients and private patients in hospitals, the prepara- tion of all food for private patients, or the supervision of some one kitchen or group of kitchens, or in the instruction of classes of nurses in dietetics. THE DEMAND AND REMUNERATION. Until recently the greater demand for women trained to under- take work of this nature has been from hospitals and charitable or semi-charitable institutions. The remuneration for this work has been at the minimum about $40 per month, with room, board, and laundry; the average salary for a responsible position has been about $75 per month, with room, board, and laundry; and the higher salaries were from $1,200 a year up, with full mainte- nance. There has recently arisen a demand for women trained in food administration to take charge of this work in high-class restau- rants, lunch-rooms, apartment hotels, clubs, summer hotels, and similar commercial enterprises. In these fields of work the sal- aries are more nearly commensurate with the responsibility in- volved in the handling of the large amounts of supplies and of money. THE TRAINING. The training required in preparation for work of the sort de- scribed must include thorough grounding in the natural sciences, in economics, in food selection, preparation, and service; in die- tetics, as represented in the selection and preparation of food in health and disease and in various conditions of life; the study of DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND : ARTS 87 education and pedagogy, which will enable the student to teach her subject successfully to classes of nurses, to her own employees when necessary, as it often is, and to her own pupil dietitians or apprentice dietitians. In addition to all the theory involved and its application in the laboratory, she must have the opportunity to practise the principles taught her in some actual field of work, as a hospital or school, for a period of six months or more, under the direction of an experienced dietitian. The problems to be met in the actual field of work are such as cannot be duplicated else- where: the solving of these depends upon the dietitian's judg- ment, which must be formed by training plus experience. On the successful handling of these problems depend the comfort and well-being of all residents of the institution, the financial security of the dietary department, the harmony of administra- tive relations which facilitates work, and, therefore, the dieti- tian's success in her work. Only experience, added to training, will enable the dietitian to adjust herself to institutional life and discipline, and to act wisely in the problems involving discipline which arise in her own department among her employees; only experience will enable her to make successful application of the theories and principles involved in the modification of dietaries and the regulation of expenditure for supplies in large quantities. These matters are not to be regarded as "beside the question": they are vital in every institution, and by their handling the die- titian's work stands or falls. THE VISITING DIETITIAN WINIFRED STUART GIBBS NEW YORK ASSOCIATION FOR IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF THE POOR Popular education in dietetics is a three-year-old experiment in New York City. The instruction is given in the tenement houses by a visiting dietitian, under the auspices of the oldest relief association of the city. It is the purpose of this paper to sketch the possibilities of this work as a field for trained dieti- tians. 88 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN A momentary view of conditions will settle the question as to whether a trained worker is a necessity. As the work is carried on in New York, the teacher enters the home, enlists the interest of the house-mother, and then, with the family income as a work- ing basis, proceeds to construct as rational a family dietary as is possible with resources at hand. This is followed by lessons in proper preparation of the food. To carry on this work successfully a woman should be capable of taking the large view of current social problems. She should be willing to let her work be merged in the other activities which are on foot with social improvement as their goal. She must be able, by force of her very training and personality, to rouse the women to active interest, and she must be ready to forestall rebuffs and, if necessary, to gain her point by sheer doggedness. The dietitian who has her eyes opened to the relation her profession bears to the really vital things realizes that here is a field of work running parallel to that of the school- room, and that the problem of feeding the workingman's family, with the workingman's income as a sole dependence, is complex enough to keep her wits well sharpened. The visiting dietitian may make her work of distinct economic value if, by teaching the dependent family to use every resource, she helps them to plant their feet firmly beyond the "poverty line." The instruction necessarily varies with each family's needs. If the father is tubercular, the children anaemic, and the mother rheumatic, all these features enter into the final working out of the problem. Instruction can very often be most effectively carried on in groups, one mother playing hostess to a group of friends: if the housekeeper is a "little mother," she can be helped in the same way, provided her friends are sufficiently interested to take the lessons seriously. The work of the visiting nurse can often be supplemented in a most helpful manner, as, after acute symptoms are relieved, the case is often one where diet is all important in effecting a cure. Experience has proved that the maximum of results is obtained if the teaching is illustrated by concrete examples of possible dietaries. It is necessary to keep constantly in mind the fact that the family resources are, first, last, and all the time, to be considered. This is so important that it is continually emphasized in the present paper. DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 89 Little has been said of the food question itself, as it is taken for granted that a dietitian undertaking this work would be equipped with the necessary knowledge of dietetics, and that she would take as her watchword "the maximum of nourishment for the minimum of outlay." She would also acquaint herself thor- oughly with the prices of food-stuffs in the territory wherein she planned to work. The final effectiveness of work like this would be much im- paired unless co-operation with other agencies was sought. Public school lunch-rooms, mothers' clubs, settlement classes, etc., all offer possible avenues for spreading its usefulness, as in- terest may be roused through these channels, and detailed in- struction in the homes is the logical outcome. INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT JULIET C. PATTERSON SUPERINTENDENT, BOSTON YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION HOME Institutional management is concerned with two kinds of insti- tutions : A. Educational, including charitable and corrective institu- tions, for these should have an ultimate educational end. B. Business concerns, such as hotels, public cafeterias, lunch- rooms, tea-rooms. This paper is concerned with institutional management in edu- cational institutions. I. Positions may be roughly divided into three classes: 1. Superintendents or matrons of college dormitories. Most of the Eastern colleges have established dormitories for girls, and the Western colleges and State universities are coming to appre- ciate the need for them. Sometimes the dean and sometimes the matron has the general direction of all the dormitories, and the girls are personally responsible to her. When the number of girls is large and the dormitories under one management, a special superintendent has immediate charge of the housekeeping depart- 90 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN ment, the catering, buying, care of the buildings, oversight of servants, business management. In this large group of positions should be included the matrons in boarding-schools for girls and boys, as well as the managers of dining halls, cafeterias, lunch- rooms, for colleges and schools. In much of this work the demand is for a liberal education, for the personal quality it gives to the woman herself, and through her to the girls in her care. Besides this there must be under- standing of and sympathy with girls, executive ability, expert training in household management, and business knowledge. 2. Secretaries, superintendents, or matrons of Young Women's Christian Associations and other institutions doing similar work. In the larger cities and towns the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciations frequently establish boarding-homes for girls in connection with extensive educational work. Usually the general secretary or the superintendent is in charge of all the work. This requires information or experience in business and household manage- ment, and possibly some knowledge also of educational matters. To supplement the secretary or superintendent, there must be the expert in household management, who, needless to say, must be a business woman. As a concrete example, the management of two large Young Women's Christian Association homes is explained more fully: During 1908 the homes cared for 5,291 women and girls, 387 of whom were permanent residents; and 85,242 meals were served to transients. The active workers who carry on the homes and their duties are as follows: (a) The financial secretary is the business manager: she has the oversight of all departments; she makes collection of all receipts and pays all outside bills; she contracts for food supplies and household utensils; she superintends repairs. (b) The superintendent of each home admits residents, perma- nent and transient, a duty requiring insight into character and discrimination; she assists with advice and information those whom she cannot admit (in one case six different social organiza- tions were consulted before a woman in need of help could be provided for) ; she has oversight of girls in residence. The superintendent is responsible for the general management DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 91 of the house; she engages the heads of the departments, more or less of the help, oversees the repairs, consults with the heads of departments as to necessary expenses, receives all money paid for board and accounts for it to the financial secretary, keeps the books, attends to the correspondence. (c) The assistant superintendent assists in the detail work of the office and house. That she should be a trained nurse is most desirable, especially in a large home. (d) The matron of each home has immediate charge of the kitchen and dining-room, the planning and serving of meals, putting up lunches, buying supplies. The matron engages most of the employees in the department. The lunch-room is an im- portant feature of the work of each house, since it is the desire of the association to provide suitable lunches for working-women at a very low cost. There is great opportunity in this work for judg- ment in selection of food and planning of meals, and for skill in buying, based on actual comparison of the different brands of supplies. The openings are advantageous for those who have the desire, personal ability, and business head to become experts in this line of work. 3. Hospitals and public institutions make a large demand for dietitians, and for the expert in this line offer many inducements in the way of opportunities for investigation and experiment. Except in the larger institutions the duties of house manager and dietitian are combined. There are numerous institutions, such as reformatories and asylums, in which the well-educated and trained woman should make herself felt as an influence and power for good, by improved household management, by better organization, by better sanitation, by feeding for efficiency, by stoppage of waste. II. The length and kind of training necessary will vary with the individual. The woman who has received a liberal education should have much intellectually and spiritually to bring to the very technical and detailed work of her profession. Courses in biology, chemistry, and physics, in economics, in psychology, will have given her a basis for further work. Practical training is, however, essential. She must understand all the details of actual management of the house. She should know something of busi- ness methods, sanitation, house construction and care, dietetics, 92 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN buying, cooking, house management, and direction of servants, even emergency nursing. So far as is known, few institutions give thorough technical and practical courses in institutional management. The following have established such definite courses: Simmons College, Bos- ton; Teachers College, New York City; State Normal School, Framingham, Mass.; Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; Drexel In- stitute, Philadelphia; Young Women's Christian Association, Boston. The colleges offer four-year courses leading to a degree; the normal school offers two or three year courses, granting a diploma; the institutes give a diploma for two years' preparation; and the Young Women's Christian Association gives a diploma for one year's work. The tendency of these courses is to give actual training in practical management, which, however, is still more or less restricted. Partial courses are given in several institutions. The bare essentials of practical training for institutional work require at least a year's work for the college woman who has had housekeeping experience at home, provided she has taken some science and economics. Otherwise a longer time is desirable. Much the same may be said for other educated women. III. The salaries for positions range from $500 to $1,200 or $2,000 for secretaries and superintendent; $400 to $1,000 for matrons in college dormitories and schools; $400 to $1,500 for dietitians, all in addition to the home. HOTELS, RESTAURANTS, AND CATERING ESTAB- LISHMENTS GERTRUDE L. MARVIN WELLEBLEY FELLOW, RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION In the six large Boston hotels investigated, all the important executive positions were held by men with the single exception of housekeeper. This is a position that varies in importance and prestige with the size and policy of the house. In the smaller houses they want a working housekeeper who will be an execu- DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 93 tive over the chambermaids and linen-room girls and scrub- women, and who will set the pace herself by a stiff day's work every day. In the larger hotels such an army of unskilled laborers is required that it takes a woman's entire time to plan and direct the work, while the direct supervision of the girls is left to one or two assistants. In the last few years social duties have been added to the housekeeper's responsibilities in the ultra-fashionable hotels. She must be ready to meet guests, especially women who are travelling alone; she often serves tea in her apartments in the afternoons; and she is to create, if pos- sible, a certain social atmosphere in the hotel. The extreme example of this is the "official chaperon" of the Hotel Chamber- lain at Old Point Comfort, to whom all the ladies at the hotel dances must be introduced. Similar positions may be found in one or two other popular resorts. The housekeeper's pay varies from $35 to $100 a month with board and an apartment in the hotel. There is a good opportunity for training in this sort of work as housekeeper's assistant in one of the larger houses. This involves taking direct charge of some part of the work, as the cleaning of the halls and bedrooms or the work in the linen-room. The pay runs from $20 to $35 a month. All 6 of the hotel managers interviewed agreed that they would be unwilling to put a woman into any other important position about a hotel, and that women are entirely unfitted for hotel life in general. Yet there are at least 4 women running hotels in and about Boston. Three are in charge of summer houses; the fourth, a city hotel. The summer places are comparatively small, accommodating from 1 to 300. All are exclusive, with a fairly permanent list of guests who return year after year, giving the places, in spite of their formality, a quiet, homelike atmos- phere. The position of proprietor in such a house is a pleasant one, if a woman has the presence and personality to make her start, attract her clientele, and dominate the house from season to season, in addition, as a matter of course, to being a clever housekeeper and executive. In such a place there are oppor- tunities for girls to take positions as assistant in charge of the various departments, gradually becoming familiar with the rou- 94 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN tine and individual peculiarities of the place and of the guests, and taking responsibility from the hands of the proprietor as she grows older. This is a slow and waiting job, however, for the women who have the initiative and energy to start successful places, usually relinquish authority slowly. Only one actual woman hotel manager was found in the city. She is a college woman, and says that she has found her college training an in- valuable background in work which involves meeting people so constantly. Her hotel is a quiet, well-ordered, business-like establishment in the centre of the city, and suggests a winter replica of the summer places already described. There is, of course, a wide demand for quiet city hotel homes, but they seem, as a rule, to be run by men. Perhaps because hotels seem such an ambitious undertaking and require such an outlay of capital, more women have at- tempted restaurants. In one of the down- town business men's restaurants, where only two years ago the manager told an inter- viewer that he could not possibly employ women as floor super- intendents or even as assistants because men were needed to threaten and force and keep the waiters in shape, to-day there is a capable young woman directing a corps of waitresses. There were in 1909 at least 8 flourishing restaurants owned and man- aged by women in Boston. Three of these were under one man- agement. In the 6 restaurants investigated, 2 of which are run by men down in the business section, out of a total of 614 em- ployees, 517 are women, and 97 men. The responsible positions are held by 31 women and 8 men. Of these 31 women, 5 are college women. The opening position for a college girl would generally be assistant to the superintendent of some depart- ment, though in one restaurant they insisted that they would take an inexperienced girl in only as a waitress, no matter what her previous training. An assistant's salary averages from $600 to $900 a year, the eight-hour day being prevalent. Her duties would be those of general assistant to her superintendent, who may have charge of the cooking and baking, the service, the cleaning, the buying, or the like. Turning to catering, we find that in the estimation of some caterers, at least, the old-fashioned caterer as such is passing DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 95 away. This would seem to be primarily a matter of fashion. The very large fashionable affairs where the caterer was invalu- able are now being given in some popular, select hotel which furnishes its own caterer. The smaller affairs still given at home must have nowadays an individuality and novelty which .the man caterer does not understand. This leaves a new oppor- tunity known as "private catering" for the woman of refinement and good taste. She needs no capital, as she goes into her em- ployer's home and uses his belongings. Her time is practically her own, as each little contract is complete in itself. Her respon- sibility is to make the luncheon or party or dance for which she is engaged an harmoniously planned, smoothly managed affair, with enough uniqueness to give it individuality. She usually writes the menu, plans the decorations, trains the extra servants in case any are needed, and is responsible for every detail from beginning to end. Here there is opportunity for all the original- ity and artistic as well as executive ability that a girl may have. Closely allied to this is another position of "visiting house- keeper, " to houses not quite large enough to retain a permanent high-paid housekeeper. A woman who has made a success of such work says that she can comfortably manage the position of visiting housekeeper for three families at once. She gives each family a couple of hours a day, writing out the menus, going through the house, seeing that no details of the work are being slighted. She has the advantage of being able to double up on the marketing and on procuring servants. This same woman suggested that a girl might take the position as visiting house- keeper for one family at perhaps $50 a month, and devote the rest of her time to private catering. The best opening position for all this sort of work, the three women interviewed all agreed, would be as assistant to the house- keeper in some large establishment where the routine of such a house and the management of that class of servants might be closely observed. There would be little or no opportunity to assist the visiting housekeeper or private caterer, as their work is too limited. As for opening positions in the old-established catering houses, the managers of the three representative places 96 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN investigated all said that the work was organized to be done under men, that it was decreasing and not growing, and that there was no place for young women with them. In looking back over the field, one feels alike in hotels, in res- taurants, and in catering, dissatisfaction with the old stereo- typed wholesale methods, and a tendency everywhere to system- atize, to subdivide, to individualize, and above all to work out new methods. Here is the opportunity for the skilled and in- telligent worker. LUNCH-ROOM MANAGEMENT BERTHA STEVENSON In lunch-rooms of the type of the Laboratory Kitchen, in which I am engaged, there is a need for women who will view their work in a professional as well as in a business light. A special demand for college women ought, therefore, to result. In applying the word " professional" to this trade I am not using it in any strained sense. I mean that a course in college which includes appropriate subjects fits a woman technically to deal with foods from the standpoint of both nutrition and preparation. For example, a knowledge of chemistry is almost indispensable in the proper care of foods which are kept from one day to an- other. I have sometimes thought also that laboratory training is essential to even a slight appreciation of cleanliness, and though the fact is rarely recognized, the strictest hospital methods should obtain in the well-run kitchen. The difference in these details will make itself felt in the greater value of the food and in the consequent health and satisfaction of those who depend regu- larly on some special well-kept lunch-room. In this business better salaries are to be had than are usually paid in teaching, and exceptionally high salaries are paid to women who can carry large responsibilities and who combine the training and business qualifications. Here, however, many college women stumble, and drop out of business or are dropped out, to be suc- ceeded by those who come up from the rank and file. The col- DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 97 lege woman is impatient of apprenticeship. If she teaches when she leaves college, she practically continues the same subjects at which she has been working, with the result that her start in the profession chosen is encouragingly high; but too often she meets with little advancement during her whole career. With a business career it is different: the woman mast do as a man does when he leaves college to begin business, and go in at the very bottom. The lunch-room business is exceedingly technical, and the girl who goes into it is doing work entirely new to her; she is once again a freshman, and must be content to learn step by step. I think the handling of details well comes more easily to the trained mind of a college woman, but every detail must be mastered before she will be a valuable worker. I have dwelt on the technical demands of lunch-room work, but another very important side is ability to deal with people, both the public and the employees. College is an important factor in bringing out a power of co-operation, and the human side of its training is of no little importance. LAUNDRY WORK GRACE G. WHITE SUNSHINE LAUNDRY, BUOOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS Work that meets a real need is the best kind to do, and is sure always to be in demand. Its usefulness and steadiness are both in its favor, as it not only assures a support, but satisfies the conscience. Clean clothes are held by modern civilized people to be necessary. He who provides them has therefore a legitimate trade, and the demand for his services is constant. The crowding into apartments due to the growing scarcity of domestic help leads to the removal of as much work as possible from the home, and one of the first kinds of work to go is the family washing, at least in part. In very few homes has either mistress or maid the expert skill needful to do up bosom shirts 98 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN and collars and cuffs well. As these are among the garments most universally worn, even conservative housewives yield them to the professional launderer; and shirts and collars are the main support of the public laundry. Machinery also puts within the reach of those of small means relief from the hardest part of the family wash, the bulky household linen. Other forms of relief are found in the "rough-dry" and "wet- wash" depart- ments in many large laundries. Beside all these necessary uses of the public laundry there is the "fine ironing" on ladies' and children's clothes, and on table linen, embroidery, and drapery curtains, which many who can afford this luxury prefer to have done outside the home. These manifold calls on the public laundry are enough to ac- count for the growing dignity and importance of the business, and finely equipped laundries are springing up to satisfy the higher standard of the public demand. Enough has been said to show the ambitious young woman that there is ample room for her to carry on this branch of woman's work outside the home. This would not mean the conduct of a large and varied business at the outset, for a small beginning with normal growth is the nat- ural and safe course. There is a great field open for the develop- ment of the special new phases of the work already mentioned, with higher standards of quality than are yet common. The conduct of an average laundry involves many things besides washing and ironing. First there is the care of building and machinery, including power plant, with insurance of the property. Then comes the collection and delivery of work, with oversight of drivers, horses, and wagons, and with this the office system of routes, accounts, and collection of bills. There are machines and other appliances to be bought, together with sup- plies, such as soap, starch, cloth, paper, and twine; but the chief effort of all must be given to the selection, training, and direc- tion of workers. This factor, always important, becomes more so as less work is done by machine. Hand-ironing not only needs trained skill, but many more workers to do a given amount of work. This human element calls for all the qualities most use- ful in dealing with people, and it also comes into play in relation to the patrons of the business. One of the questions most often DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 99 put by visitors to laundries is: "How do you ever succeed in return- ing all the thousand pieces to their rightful owners?" This question alone suggests the great need of system to reach the desired results, and those most familiar with the business agree that it is one of unusual detail, and therefore of absorbing in- terest and variety. Business experience of some kind is desirable, if not essential, in preparation for this as for any such venture. The training in laundry work given at schools of household science usually prepares either for the home laundry or for institutional work. Many of its methods cannot be applied in a public laundry, where work is done on a large scale, or they are too expensive to be profitable; for public institutions are proverbially extravagant in laundry equipment and management. The Teachers College of New York has fitted up a laundry in which it has prepared a course by which it hopes to give more practical training than it has been possible to get except in real work. Nothing, however, is equal to practical experience, and next to that comes observation of actual business. Let the would-be laundry-woman visit as many public laundries as possible. She can learn something from all. Laundry managers, while very busy people, are usually ready to give kind and careful attention to interested visitors, and most laundries open their doors readily to the public, realizing that freedom of inspection is their best advertisement. But watching is not doing, and after visits to perhaps one hundred laundries have given enough general and special knowledge to determine the nature and equipment of the new business, the only safe way is to put in charge one who has had much practical and success- ful experience in laundry management. The business woman must learn, like her brother, not to expect support from her work as soon as she enters upon it, but to have patience in proportion as the result sought is more than an aver- age salaried position would give. It is sometimes said, "Support your business for a year, and then you may hope it will support you." This is a conservative estimate of the time one must take into account in providing capital at the beginning. Besides the first outlay on the plant, there should be enough for running expenses and for personal support, not only until ends meet, but 100 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN until there is a margin of profit. The amount of capital will depend on the size and nature of the projected laundry, but should run well into the thousands unless the beginning is made on a very small scale. To capital must be added the patience of years of hard work and long hours, hard but most interesting work, bringing into play and training all the mental powers one can muster. But she who has the courage to assume responsi- bility may hope in time for an income which is equalled by the salaries of only a few teachers. That women are now successfully conducting laundries in Washington, Philadelphia, Newport, and in and about Boston, shows that the way is open for others to enter this practical, interesting, and profitable field of work. DOMESTIC ARTS THE FIELD OF DOMESTIC ARTS COMPILED FROM NOTES BY MRS. NELLY HATTERSLEY Since the gathering of the data of this article by Mrs. Nelly Hattersley, director of the School of Domestic Arts, Pratt Insti- tute, her serious illness and death have occurred. The informa- tion she assembled was left in the form of notes, which have been edited for the utilization of the readers of this publication. But the material suffers both in form and substance by the handling of a writer who did not do the investigating nor know the thoughts of the investigator after her interviews with those working in the field, from whom the following facts were obtained. DRESSMAKING. The art and trade of sewing associates itself in most minds with the dressmaking field. All grades of sewing are herein required, from basting to the finest stitchery, so that work is DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 101 furnished for all classes of workers. There is, too, an almost unlimited call for art ability in the lines of draping as well as decorating, and a more limited demand for designers. The organi- zation of workrooms needs those who have managing and group directing powers. Thus the field of dressmaking offers oppor- tunity for the entrance and promotion of a wide range of talent. The heads of the dressmaking departments in the large shops are well-paid women. The salary of one who was interviewed was $3,000 a year. The head of the dressmaking department in one of the Fifth Avenue shops is a woman who was trained at Pratt Institute, and who is paid $3,750 a year. She has under her in the sales department a Wellesley College woman, whose salary is about $1,500 a year. In the large city department stores there are women employed in the dressmaking salesroom of the special order department whose work it is to meet the customers, to consult with them as to the kind of garment wanted, materials suitable for such, the design for the garment, and to give the estimate of the cost. After the order has been taken by one of these women, she sends a full description of the gown to the workroom, and supervises the making. She is present at the fittings, and sees that the gown is finished satisfactorily. These women hold their customers from season to season, and often plan out the whole season's wardrobe for them. They are paid a good wage, and are employed throughout the year. Most of the women in such positions have been formerly employed in minor positions, as cash-girls and sales- women, and have worked into their present positions step by step. They must be women of some general education and have a great deal of tact in handling people. They must also be thor- oughly familiar with the different dress materials and their cost. In some of the smaller houses this work is done by one woman, who is also the buyer for the department, and is sent abroad once or twice a year. The making of children's clothes and infants' layettes is quite a business in itself. There are many successful shops for this work alone. One college graduate makes a good living in this work by private trade. She had no special training, but was endowed with good natural taste and some originality. 102 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN MILLINERY. The millinery business requires of its workers not more art than dressmaking, but less sewing, both in ability and extent. Those who are and remain preparers for the trimmers or makers of the ready-to-wear hats have the greatest amount of sewing to do. But the sewing is not of the same detailed kind as is required of the helpers in a dressmaker's workroom. To insure advancement in the millinery shop to the position of trimmer, there must be artistic ability and special knack for this line of feminine art. Unless one possesses this ability and special knack, there would seem to be little profit in going into the millinery trade. The seasons for the millinery business are much shorter than for dressmaking, the wholesale seasons beginning in Janu- ary and in July, and the retail seasons beginning in February and March and in September. Seasons are from six to ten weeks, which is longer than formerly on account of the Southern tourists' trade. Though the wholesale trade seasons alternate with the retail seasons, they use such a different and somewhat inferior class of workmanship that the same worker cannot, as a rule, transfer herself as the market may demand, and so keep busy throughout the year. The large millinery establishments and departments of the dry-goods shops retain their best workers throughout the year, but the apprentices and those in the less important positions are usually engaged only for the season. Head-trimmers are paid anywhere from $30 to $40 a week. Those in charge of the different workrooms are usually paid about $18 a week. Wanamaker's general manager would be glad to have college women as heads of departments in his store, providing they were content to begin in subordinate positions and willing to develop business capacity and genius for taking pains. In the millinery department the head-buyer is a man, who goes to Europe twice a year to manage the business end of the buying. Two head- women go with him to choose the style of hats, and are paid as high as $6,500. College women should reach such a position after three or four years' work, all other things being favorable. At one of the large and fashionable establishments on Fifth Avenue, New York City, the head of the millinery department is DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 103 i a man, who was trained at Pratt Institute, and has worked his way up to his present position, where he receives a large salary. It seems absurd that men should hold positions of this kind when it is eminently women's work. There are a large number of very successful men milliners. Another young man who took the technical course at Pratt opened a millinery establishment in Washington, D.C., in partnership with a young woman class- mate. They soon occupied a whole floor in a large house in the fashionable centre of Washington, and cater to a very high class of customers. Young women with a technical knowledge of millinery, and sufficient education and ability to start a business of their own and finance it, often prefer to go out of the city and start milli- nery establishments in small towns, where their rent and other expenses are much less than in large cities. They must be able to do on a small scale the work which is divided among many women in the large shops. Many of the most successful private establishments in New York have been started on a very small scale by capable young women who have been clever enough to work up a good trade in their own parlors and add to their staff of workers as the growth of their business warranted. Two young women in New York, who had been trained to teach domes- tic arts, decided to go into the business field a few years ago. One is a dressmaker, and the other is a milliner, who makes hats to go with the gowns. They are now running a very successful co-operative shop, and employing several women under them. The length of the training for a milliner is from three to six months, and costs from $25 to $50, but experience would be required after this to give facility and style. INTERIOR DECORATION. Interior decoration is one of the most interesting and delight- ful vocations for educated women, and one which seems to prom- ise success. There are in New York several women who have attained a large measure of success in this profession. Some of these have had little or no training, but have taken it up as a means of earning their living. One woman spent eight years in preparing herself for the pro- 104 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN fession after having had a college education. She has built up a very fine business, works independently, chooses her own architect, and takes the whole contract. After her college education she entered the second year of the two-year design course of Pratt Institute, after which she went to Teachers College, and then worked for three years in an architect's office. She then spent a year abroad, studying different styles of furniture. She con- siders hard work the only road to success. She now employs 20 men and 16 women workers, and pays her best women workers from $25 to $30 a week. She believes that a successful house decorator should have a commercial knowledge, a knowl- edge of carpentry, painting, and architecture, with special gift for color. She considers that a good way to enter the profession is to spend some time as secretary to a successful woman, the probable remuneration for which would be about $60 a month. Another woman had an office in New York for some years. She had no special training and was not a college woman, but the daughter of an English potter. She had artistic instinct and a splendid home environment, and was well educated. She had helped her friends furnish houses, and, when financial reverses came, took up interior decoration as a profession. She also works entirely independently. She does not believe in much special training, but thinks one must work from the inside out; heredity and early environment are important factors in the development of taste. A third woman found herself obliged to earn her own living. She had artistic home environment and had travelled abroad. She began her career in a small country town by submitting schemes of decoration to builders and getting the contract for painting and decorating. At first she sublet the contract, putting on a profit of 50 per cent., and gave satisfaction. The first year she made a profit of $2,800, and eventually developed a large business of her own, which yielded her $9,000 a year. She found it necessary to keep in touch with architects and builders, and thinks it essential to have a technical knowledge of plumbing, plastering, painting, paper hanging, and electric wiring. This woman is now employed in one of the large department stores at a large salary. She recommends that a year or two be spent DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 105 in study of different periods of decorative art, and believes that the best way to succeed is to start on your own account rather than go in as assistant to others. An infinite amount of tact is necessary to manage the business end of such work. A woman architect interviewed was not a college woman, but was a pupil of Chase, and worked for some years in an architect's office. She understands pottery and the chemistry of color. She is able to take the contract for building houses and for the whole of the interior decoration. She has evidently made a success of her life, but gave no figures as to remuneration or cost of train- ing. After thirteen years as an actress, a woman has been doing interior decoration for four years. She had no special training, but had lived in Paris, and now has an office on West 40th Street, and employs 14 people. She has done houses in Colorado, California, etc. She evidently has a fine business. Such a store as Wanamaker's employs 4 or 5 women who manage the interior decoration part of that business, who are paid as high as $5,000 a year. Such women, however, have not the same opportunity for expressing themselves as have those who are working independently, because they are compelled to use only such things as are sold at the store, but the position is a good one, and would only be given to a woman of experience.* DRESS DESIGN. The field of costume or dress design is a very attractive and remunerative one in a few large centres for the distribution of styles, particularly New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Work in this line requires at least a year's training in costume drawing, supplemented by pattern drafting, to insure an understanding of the reasonable and possible in dress design. A natural taste for designing must be the basis for undertaking this study. Even then a course of two or three years to allow for sufficient training in drawing should be taken if really good and progressive art work in costume designing is desired. Most of this work is the * It should be borne in mind that in most of the instances here cited natural ability and unusually favorable environment are presupposed. It should be remembered also that the figures quoted are New York figures, and cannot every- where be counted upon, granted a high degree of power. ED. 106 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN adaptation of foreign styles to American taste and conditions, but excellence of technique, attention to detail, knowledge of the kind of work for good reproduction, and a commercial rapid- ity in the workmanship are all required of the beginner, and increasingly so of the expert, who may receive $100 to $150 per week as salary. Remuneration is high because the suc- cess of a business in the clothing line depends on the designer's ability. One young woman, after having taken a one year's course in dress design and pattern drafting, started in a house in New York, where she was paid $25 from the start as a designer. Three hun- dred workers were employed in this establishment carrying out the work which had been planned by the designers. This same young woman is now receiving $35 a week in a similar position. Another young woman with the same training has been holding a position of responsibility in Canada in a large pattern house, where she directs the designing and cutting of patterns and cal- culates the amount of materials necessary to carry them out. There are other positions where women are employed in sketching and modelling in paper and crinoline, also in making up designs for braiding and embroidery for the crinoline models. One woman has a very successful business of her own, manu- facturing waists and gowns. She worked for other manufact- urers before going into business for herself. Her forewomen get about $15 a week, and advance to from $18 to $25. An ex- ceptional woman she knows of gets $40 after having had three years' experience in a workroom. A general education seems to be no advantage except in the ability it begets to deal with girls and plan ahead, and look to the main needs, ignoring the petty troubles. EDUCATIONAL FIELD. As an offset or climax to the foregoing statement of opportuni- ties in the special sections of the domestic arts field, a brief sum- mary may be permitted of the teacher's opportunities and the nature of her training for this work. Success as a teacher always depends on native ability to teach or a very strong desire to be- come capable of teaching. The training for domestic art work DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 107 should be from the cradle up. That is, the environment should be full of art feeling, right living, and high ideals. Special training following high-school graduation should be not less than two years, but three or four are much to be desired if the work of the teacher is to advance indefinitely and embrace such tech- nique and thoughts as will enrich the home lives and work of her students. The cost of such special training will be probably about $500 a year, including board and lodging. Remuneration for teachers of domestic arts in public elementary schools in New York is $900 a year, advancing to $1,200 in three years. Manual training high school domestic arts teachers begin at $1,100 and increase to $1,900. Night high school domestic arts teachers are paid $5 a night for four nights a week, and teachers of the elementary night schools are paid $3 a night, also four nights a week. Other positions are open in Young Women's Christian Associations, where small salaries are paid as a rule. In technical institutes, salaries usually range from $850 to $1,000, according to the stand- ing, and rise to $1,300 or $1,500. Directorships in technical institutes range from $1,500 to probably as high as $4,000. In State universities head positions pay from $1,200 to $1,500. Women of college training are eligible for high-school positions, and after a few years' experience in teaching for directorships, if possessed of executive ability. Supervisors of domestic arts in public schools get from $1,200 to $3,500. DRESSMAKING AGNES HINDS SOLOV-HINDS COMPANY, BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON The occupation of dressmaking has been regarded primarily as a means of livelihood, and a young girl, having completed the rudiments of a common school education, started to learn the trade, as the phrase was. To-day , among the higher classes of dress- makers, a feeling prevails that the former apprentice is a nuisance, 108 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN employers preferring to pay the higher wage to skilled work- women. This condition has led to the trade school, where girls are taught the elements of dressmaking, which gives them at least a little conception of the nature of the work before they undertake the real business of dressmaking. A girl at the age of sixteen, perhaps, comes into a workroom and starts at 75 cents or $1 per day, according to how much she knows. If bright and attentive, she becomes a good helper to a head-girl or a finisher of waists or skirts at about $10 per week. According to her own ability she is advanced, although sometimes there is not the chance to push forward, head-girls often staying on with employers for years. A head waist or skirt girl earns from $15 to $20 per week. The next step is to become a fitter, which position earns as high as $35 per week. There is, of course, something to be said about the division of the work into seasons, which means a dull period between, and is a definite drawback to this particular class of work. In my own rooms, however, I have always retained the girls who have been interested for me, and who have paid atten- tion to their business, not working merely for "six o'clock and Saturday night," which practically amounts to a kind of sur- vival of the fittest. These steps to the higher wages vary with different girls, but the experience of learning generally comes between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three. Of course there are many who never advance beyond a certain point. Many girls do not go through all these steps, although those who do so are best fitted for the mechanical end of dress- making, but start in business for themselves in a small way, making dresses at a low figure to attract certain people. As this particular business seems to depend largely on one satisfied patron sending another, if the young dressmaker has any native genius, and is conscientious about the sort of work she sends out, she is in line to get higher prices and to go into larger quarters. If she is ambitious to become a real business woman, she can enlarge her operations by buying materials to use in her work, which requires not only good taste and judgment about certain things which may be the fashion temporarily, but also an idea of sales- womanship, which is quite another aspect of the subject. DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 109 If the dressmaker is wise in her buying, and thus successful in her selling, the next step is to become a buyer of imported models as well as goods. She goes to Paris, enters the market with the world's buyers, and receives her first education in Paris model dresses, which are always the leading and advanced styles. Perhaps she buys two or three the first season, and with that buy- ing picks up ideas enough for the making of other dresses. She comes home, pays the duty, and with the expense of travelling finds that she has spent all that she had saved. She goes to work, however, determined to succeed. She has raised her prices be- cause she has models to show. She sells them and copies them, and altogether she has benefited her business, even though the profits do not at first appear. Twice a year fashion requires new models, and the dressmaker, if she is in the field with up-to-date competitors, must buy or in some way obtain models for her business. Here our American dressmakers have great need of growth or, perhaps I should say, of greater confidence in their own abilities to design. Paris models are not only exorbitant in price, but villanously made, and many of the houses are not reliable in giving what is paid for. There is no doubt, in my mind, that the Parisians lead in design- ing and the combining of colors, hand embroideries, etc., but there are many of our own people who, with a little encouragement, could design and bring about practically as good results with sufficient effort. Here is one great field for any person who has an eye for the beautiful in line, style, and coloring. Thus far we have seen that a bright girl with a common school education can become a business woman, an importer, a high-class dressmaker, with a chance of clearing from $3,000 to $10,000 per year when she is well started. There are, of course, plenty of instances of dressmakers overbuying or buying unwisely and running into debt and failure, but it is, as in other businesses, largely good judgment and a level head, and the sticking to one's own sense of what one can use, that carry one through success- fully. Now just how to apply all this to the college woman, I should say, must depend largely on her own attitude toward the problem of dressmaking and the business world generally. Dressmaking 110 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN has been pretty generally isolated from educational subjects, and it is a fact that the majority of dressmakers are not even ordinarily well educated. It seems to me that only in so far as the mind trained to be logical and to apply what is deduced from observa- tion to the problem in hand, namely, dressmaking, can get quicker results because of the greater intelligence brought to bear, only in so far can the college graduate find anything in dressmaking which her less favored sister has not already found. While the college girl is doing her best intellectual work at col- lege, the dressmaker's helper is receiving her final training in practical work. The average college graduate, at the age of twenty-one or two, is not likely to wish to begin at fundamentals of dressmaking. She would much more easily fit into the business end of it, meeting customers, showing goods, taking orders, mak- ing use of her idea of line and style best adapted to a particular customer. The advantages of meeting people socially and her education will have given her an easy manner and good address, together with the assurance that she knows at least as much as her customer, all of which goes a long way in making sales and retaining customers. The salary of such a salesgirl would range from $10 to $25, depending largely upon how necessary she makes herself to employer and customer. A good salesgirl stands a chance of becoming a buyer, if she has good taste, good style herself, and the confidence of her employer. A buyer receives from $35 to $50 per week. I have known buyers who had charge of dressmaking departments in stores who received $8,000 per year, but that salary carried with it the responsibility of making the department pay, which in- volves a knowledge of business principles as well as all the detail of buying. Whether the college girl has any more aptitude than others in this line is a matter yet to be proved. I do not person- ally know a single college graduate among all the buyers I have ever met. Dressmaking, in its best sense, considered apart from a means of livelihood, is an art which calls for the highest sense of beauty of line, harmony of color, and individuality of style, and for a combination of artistic qualities which the college girl, with her opportunity to obtain a rounded sense of the beautiful by the DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 111 study of art in one form and another, should be able to apply with good results. But application to the details of the business is as necessary to the college girl as to the trade-school girl, and unless she is willing to "buckle down" to hard work and apply all her ability and intelligence to it, her chancej^no better than that of her less educated sister. Indeed, it is not so good. College education ought to prove a good supplement to what has already been accomplished along these lines, and with their larger knowledge of what makes for real progress, college girls ought to be better prepared both to govern and be governed in the business world. Whether they are so prepared remains to be proved. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF DRESS- MAKING ESTABLISHMENTS JANE FALES DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF TEXTILES AND NEEDLEWORK, TEACHERS COLLEGE, NEW YORE To a woman entering any profession a college education is not usually found to be a handicap. Although outside of teaching, it has not been considered necessary, has been, indeed, depreciated by those in trade, it has been proved a decided advantage in establishing many women in successful careers. Why, then, should we permit the line to be so closely drawn about dress- making? Why should we assent meekly, without argument, when the assertion is made that a good dressmaker can come only from the ranks, that she must be trained in the shop to finally accomplish the position of head of the establishment? Has the woman from the ranks ever encountered sufficient com- petition from the educated woman to prove the comparative value of their individual training? I think not. It is surely a logical hypothesis that, if trained intelligence and education be brought to bear upon the dressmaking problem, better results can be effected than by spending years of labor only over the detail of the technique. 112 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN In the dressmaking shop, division of labor is so carefully deter- mined, everything is so specialized, that very few workers know more than one part of a garment, and that, generally, without reference to the completed whole. If the head of an establish- ment has been a trade worker, she may have had actual experi- ence in but one line, that of sleeves, skirts, or waists. She is not only without business training, without even the "business instinct/' but also without training in design in costume, which to-day is considered so important a part of dressmaking educa- tion. Her largest assets are the years she has spent in the trade and the "taste" she has for it. Does this not, in part, explain why dressmaking, as a business, stands to-day practically at the head of the list of unorganized industries? Is this not one reason why women, as business managers and organizers, are considered unsuccessful? How many dressmakers managing their own es- tablishments could tell you how much they made last year and how they made it, in labor or in sale of materials? Many of our colleges give a dressmaking course planned at present for teachers in which may be acquired certain fundamen- tal rules of technique. It remains to round out the professional education by supplementing training along artistic and business lines. For instance, by an art course with special and direct application to design in costume, so that the student can know thoroughly what the finished product should be, and whether it can be considered a success from both its artistic and technical sides. Second, by courses in the theory of organization and management of a shop, a definite outline of the many sides of the trade; the management of the stock-room especially, the chief source of profit or loss; the amount of time that should be consumed in the production of certain things, for there are a few fundamental stages through which practically every costume must go; the cost of that time; the cost of material used; the proper profit on each and the worth of the finished article in re- lation to the necessary charge. The much-discussed question "Can good and yet inexpensive dressmaking be done?" might even be settled. Third, by actual book-keeping courses. If a successful business is to be conducted, and a daily knowledge of the actual standing is to be comprehended, familiarity with the DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 113 business aspect is most important. Add to these suggested courses a few months' actual experience in a well-run establish- ment, where both the business methods and technical work can be observed, and it stands to reason that the woman thus equipped starts superior to the trade worker. She would have still more efficient grasp of the situation by working in a model dressmaking shop in connection with the college itself: there she would see all theories put into practical operation. This is a thing of the near future. Model schools for the training of teachers are often provided by colleges, so that students may parallel all theory courses by work under usual conditions. A model dressmaking establishment is equally possible. But the college woman need not wait for it before demonstrating her ability to successfully organize and operate in the dressmaking profession. Let her turn to that rather than to teaching, for which she is so often obviously unfitted. The old adage that teachers are born, not made, may apply also to the dressmakers. At least it is less serious if the women of to-day be not so stylishly clothed than that their children, the law makers of to-morrow, be unwisely taught and unwisely influenced. MILLINERY C. LOTHROP HIGGINS MILLINER, BOSTON Millinery as an occupation offers to the young woman who has had a college training a field of activity where constant demands are being made for that ability which has already proved to be of great use to the business woman as well as to the professional. There is plenty of room for good brain work in the millinery business. The demand to-day is for those who can not only perform the work planned and assigned to them, but plan work for others and direct them in it. To be a millinery designer or a so-called first-class trimmer requires much more than the ability to put right colors together, or to evolve a stylish hat. One must, in addition, have had the training in which quick 114 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN thought and action are called upon at all times, for under her direction the makers, copyists, and apprentices are guided in every part of their work. On the accuracy of her orders, as given to them, depend largely the successes or failures in their work, and to bring out the best results from each individual is almost entirely a question of her temperament. The responsibili- ties of the trimmer, therefore, do not end with her own work. She requires great capacity and ability along many lines. In her work, originality counts for much; also artistic conceptions, a trained eye for form and color as well as accuracy in lines and angles. But in addition there must be ability to impart to others and to direct and guide them. All these are the elements which combine to make a first-class trimmer. Trimmers and designers are, as a rule, people of temperament and natural artistic ability. Add to these qualifications a well- developed mind, and the result is a work-woman to whom any establishment is willing to pay just tribute in a financial way. The demand for such women is always in excess of the supply. A good trimmer, even in the smaller cities, commands a salary of $20 or even more a week. In our largef cities $25 and up- wards, and to some even $35 and more, is paid. Those who devote themselves exclusively to designing of course demand still larger salaries, and are hard to find at any price. The chief requirement for a copyist is that she be accurate, especially in detail. One who meets all the requirements within the range of her work is very much in demand in all first-class establishments. The rule for good work as a maker is practically the same in all places, and though it is said that a good trimmer is usually born, the experienced maker or copyist is evolved by right training. The wages paid to a good copyist range from $10 to, $20 a week. The demands made are much less than those made on a trimmer, as originality and designing are not so much considered as the ability to copy the ideas of another. If one who starts as an apprentice in the workroom has ability, it is soon recognized, and there is no house which is not always ready to encourage and advance such a one. So far, apprenticeship has been the general means of training. Girls have begun in the workroom, usually as a result of circumstances, not from special DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 115 aptitude, and have been advanced step by step as ability or demand necessitated. To-day trade schools and domestic arts departments are rising on all sides, designed to save the long period of apprenticeship. As yet, however, the practical milliner has had too little experience with graduates of these schools to -tell whether such training can be substituted for that gained by actual experience in the workroom. The dark side of the millinery business lies in the short sea- sons. People leave the city earlier every year, and return later. The work, therefore, that should take months in accomplish- ment, must be crowded into a few short weeks. The ability of quick workers is in great demand, and yet you will learn in any millinery establishment that a very small proportion of those employed in its workroom are first-class workers. In more than twenty years of business experience I have found the best results brought about by those women who have had the advantages of a good education. Better system, better perception of the needs and the individuality of the customer* characterize their effort, while their interest in the work has raised the standard in the millinery business both in the Old World and in the New. The salesroom of an exclusive millinery house offers to a woman with tact, patience, and adaptability to circumstances and cus- tomers, an established position, where the cultured, college-bred woman has an opportunity to exercise in many ways the results of her training. A saleswoman with artistic inclinations and a pleasing address, who is interested in her business relations, may in a few seasons build up a personal following of customers, not only reflecting her good judgment, but adding materially to her value and to that of the house employing her. A first-class saleswoman is not easily found, and she demands a salary ranging from $15 to $30 a week. A successful buyer is usually the outgrowth of the successful saleswoman, who has mastered the problems of the workroom as well as of the salesroom. The ability to sell is usually a natural aptitude of the individual, but training gives poise, a better rec- ognition of values, and greater ability to please, in place of a superficial knowledge of the ordinary details of the business. 116 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN The best teacher is experience, but not all people can give the time required in order to start from the beginning of a business career. For these the trade school may prove in time to be an effective substitute. Meanwhile the applied experiences of those who have, step by step, mastered the problems of the practical business world of to-day must, to a certain degree, be the standard for those who will follow. THE EDUCATED WOMAN IN MILLINERY EVELYN SMITH TOBEY DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF MILLINERY, TEACHERS COLLEGE, NEW YORK To an educated woman training in millinery opens two gen- eral fields of activity, teaching and trade. Teaching may be formal, as prescribed by a board of educa- tion and carried out in a class-room, or it may be informal, as in clubs and in private classes. Training for teaching is best acquired by a good course of in- struction, supplemented by at least one season's work in a shop. Training with a good teacher affords the opportunity not only to learn the subject, but to see a method of its presentation to a class. Work in a shop brings the student in touch with the organization of the business side of the art, and makes her better fitted as a teacher to lead classes in which there are girls pre- paring for the trade. All this preparation is preliminary, for each season the teacher should learn what is new from the studios of the designers, and should bring it to her class. This can be done by visiting the shops of the city, if possible spending a few weeks in some one of them, and by reading the best magazines of fashion contributed to by the leading designers of costume. An occasional visit to Paris is as necessary to the teacher of millinery as the visit to Europe to the professor of history or English. Opportunities for teachers of millinery are to be found in the day schools, in the night schools, in the summer schools of the city, and in some normal schools and colleges. The salaries for DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 117 these positions are always adequate and often surprisingly large, because the subject is comparatively a new one in the cur- ricula, and there is an insufficient number of teachers; not every student of domestic art will make a good teacher of mil- linery. Other positions are to be found in the settlements, girls' clubs, and Young Women's Christian Associations of the cities. Remuneration in such positions ranges from $2 to $5 a lesson. The fashionable private schools for several years have been giv- ing domestic art and science a prominent place. One well- known private school in New York City has opened an auxiliary household arts school, in which are registered not only the school's regular pupils, but many of the alumnae and other special students. Some of the most successful teaching in millinery and sewing is being done in classes for the society girl, and her conscientious- ness and industry can be fairly compared with that of the student in the trade class. Finally, there are the classes which may be organized by the teacher herself, meeting at her home or at the home of some member. An enterprising student, upon the com- pletion of a millinery course, began this kind of work last autumn by sending her card to a number of her friends and acquaintances in one of New York's suburbs. She promptly received 30 appli- cations and organized 2 classes, giving to each a two-hour lesson weekly. She received $10 for 10 lessons from every student, thus earning $30 a week for 4 hours' work. Trade offers the educated woman a position in the business shop, the salary for which ranges from $12 to $100 a week, de- pending entirely upon her executive ability. If she finds herself not adapted to the life of the formal business world, there is for her the private work of the home milliner, who either visits her customers or has them come to her in her home. The oppor- tunity for this sort of service is as far-reaching as the clever- ness of the private milliner will carry her. She must have re- spect for the scrap-bag, and see the possibilities in a worn-out black taffeta petticoat for a chic mourning hat. She need not seek her clientele only among the "genteel poor," for she will be surprised at the interest of the common-sense woman of wealth in her clever utilization of old laces, feathers, and other hat mate- rials. If she can get the confidence of this sort of woman, she 118 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN may make for her mink and ostrich hats, using fascinating new things. A sealskin hat, trimmed with paradise aigrettes, costing $135, was copied by a private milliner for a customer last winter for $55. The remuneration of the private milliner depends upon so many varying conditions that it is impossible even approxi- mately to estimate it. Trade to-day needs the influence of the cultured woman more than she may need to go to trade for her support. To realize this, it is necessary only to visit the opening of a wholesale or retail shop in a large city. The coiffure and costume of the sales- woman are absurdly inappropriate. She does not appear like a business woman, who has dressed in the early morning to report for duty at 8.30, but rather like a woman in an opera box. Her attitude is often rude and bored. The modest woman hesitates to accept the opinion of so vulgar a person as to what is fashion- able or suitable for her. This type of American business woman is the dictator of millinery fashion for us. The extreme, ridicu- lous, and extravagant hats in which the wits and cartoonists of the newspapers find so much inspiration are the result of the influence of this kind of importer. If the well-bred, educated woman were taking special training and offering her services to trade, all this would not be true. She could, during her visits to Paris, visit the bibliotheques to see the old prints and to read the history of costume of the period which is being used as sug- gestion by the designers of the season's style. Her education in history and the fine arts would make her the best messenger of fashion. Why has all this responsibility been left to the mil- liner trained only in her trade? Perhaps it is because the edu- cated woman has not been available. The leading positions in the big business field, with their broad interests and magnificent salaries, certainly offer the most promising opening for millinery work, and the success of the educated woman in this field is assured. DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 119 INTERIOR DECORATION CELESTE WEED ALLBRIGHT GRTJNDMANN STUDIOS, BOSTON Interior decoration, as a profession for woman, is perhaps the one of all others to which she brings the greatest number of qualifications, simply in the fact that she is a woman. The more distinctly womanly her habits, the more domestic her tastes, so much the better is she qualified for this particular kind of work, if to her natural gifts be added training. It is a pro- fession, however, which should be approached with all serious- ness. Often I have heard it said : " I should like that kind of work, and think I could do it. I have good taste in the selecting of things and a delight in color." These qualifications are neces- sary, most assuredly, but not enough. Both taste and a delight in color must be governed by knowledge, a knowledge capable of nice discriminations, able to give the reason why for each suggestion, for each decision; and together with taste and knowl- edge the decorator, to be really successful, must possess un- limited patience, be tactful, resourceful, have a quick percep- tion of the individualities of those for whom she works, and a readiness to forget self in thinking for another. It is her privi- lege and pleasure to create by the use of her particular knowl- edge the environment for her clients which shall help them to live each his own life most successfully. Color, form, mass, all have their psychological values, create rest or irritation by their proper or improper use, apart from their values as things of utility or beauty, and only as they are given their right place in the ensemble are they in any sense worthy. There are to-day two ways in which decorators are working, the one from a shop, an establishment, the other from a studio; the one mercantile, a business enterprise, the other a profession on an artistic plane. To have a shop, keeping in stock materials of one kind or another, selected ever so carefully, perhaps of intrinsic beauty in themselves, will invariably bias judgments, unconsciously perhaps, but none the less unavoidably. "In- 120 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN vested capital must be turned, money must be made to earn.'* A shop of this kind may or may not be a good business enter- prise, that depends : it can surely never be the place from which one, feeling the true significance of the profession, can work suc- cessfully, if success be based on the quality of the work achieved in the ideal sense. An architect considers the many sides of each building proposition, creates his design, constructs his plans with due regard to the requirements and tastes of his client, and by a series of eliminations is at last able to produce a building, the expression of one idea, having much in common with all other buildings, yet individual in itself. So a decorator, to be artistically and ideally successful, must be unhampered by ma- terials at hand, be free to look at each proposition independently, solve it on its own merits, minimizing or losing altogether that which is mean or ignoble, enlarging and enhancing that which is noble and best. This kind of work is, I believe, less taxing physically than many of the other professions, particularly that of teaching. I believe also, with ordinary success, it affords rather better compensation. One might perhaps attain to a brilliant financial success by ingenious and unique advertising, but there is danger here of dropping into a business, losing the profession. It is as inconsistent for a decorator to advertise his work as an artist his paintings, an architect his buildings. The best advertise- ment for all is good work. The compensation depends on the amount of work, the charge being a per cent, on the total ex- penditure, the same as with architects, landscape architects, and others working similarly. In training for any profession, one cannot urge too strongly the necessity of thoroughness. Surely the decorator's pro- fession is no exception. When one thinks of the numbers of things which contribute to the furnishing of the house, from the coal-bins of the cellar to the slant-walled chambers under the roof, from the pots and pans of the kitchen to the daintiest bit of bric-a-brac of the parlor, of the many things of which a decora- tor should have an intimate knowledge and the numberless things of which more or less knowledge is desirable, one will readily see how broad and comprehensive the training should be. A DOMESTIC SCIENCE AND ARTS 121 thorough understanding of the theory and practice of design and of the harmony of color; a broad acquaintance with the history and development of architecture, embracing, as it does, the study of the various building materials, their uses and abuses, of lighting, heating, sanitation, etc., with their fixtures and appliances; a knowledge of the history of -the manufacture of stuffs, damasks, tapestries, laces, of furniture, of wall and floor coverings, all these are indispensable. The young woman in college, thinking to make interior decoration her profession, can do much by way of preparation while yet an undergraduate, in the choice of her electives, taking such as will naturally bear on the particular work to come later. The woman of taste and refinement, trained to use all her faculties, willing to dedicate herself to interior decoration, will, in my opinion, find ample opportunity in the furnishing not merely of the individual home, important as that may be, but also of homes in the collective sense, dormitories, college halls, hotels, hospitals, and other institutions. It is perhaps in these collective homes that the influence of the woman of cultivated training is most needed. IV AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS A. R. MANN SBCHETAKT OF THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY IN CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE STAFF In all countries and in all times women have borne a share, sometimes a preponderating share, in the raising of crops and the tending of animals. The early explorers of North America bear testimony to the skill of the Indian women farmers: they cleared the fields, sowed the seed, cultivated the growing crops of maize and pumpkins, and without power other than their own. By their farming they laid the foundations for a settled life. As to the place taken by women to-day in farming, a review of the census reports reveals certain interesting facts. At the census of 1900, the number of women sixteen years of age and over reported as farmers, planters, and overseers in continental United States was 307,706; agricultural laborers, 456,405; other agricultural pursuits, 5,944; total, 770,055. The total number of adults reported as engaged in this occupation was 5,674,875, so that the number of women farmers, planters, and overseers (307,706) reported constituted but 5.4 per cent., or approximately one-twentieth of the total. Of the 47 occupations listed as employing 5,000 female breadwinners, however, only 5 the servants and waitresses, the female agricultural laborers, the dressmakers, the laundresses, and the teachers exceeded the occupation of farmer in the actual number of women employed. Because of the large number of women engaged in it, the occupa- 122 AGRICULTURE 123 tion of farming is, therefore, very important in the consideration of the employment of women. The census reports for 1900 reveal the fact also that native white women, with both parents native, were by far the most important class among female farmers, forming 58.3 per cent; of the total number. The only nationality for which the occupation approached the importance shown for the white of native parentage was that of the Norwegians, for whom the propor- tion of the total number of female breadwinners reported as farmers was 7.1 per cent. The Swiss ranked second, with 5.8 per cent. That farming is pre-eminently an occupation of women in middle life or old age is evidenced by the fact that, of the total number of female farmers above referred to, only 13.5 per cent., or about 2 in 15, were under thirty -five years of age; while 66.3 per cent., or almost 2 in 3, were over forty-four. That the female farmers as a class should be so old is the result of the condi- tions under which most of them take up farming. The occupa- tion has not appealed largely to young unmarried women. It normally requires a certain amount of capital and experience, and to a single woman without family ties other methods of gaining a livelihood have appeared more feasible. The statistics indicate that most of the women reported as farmers were once farmers' wives, who upon the death of the husband managed the farm; no less than 73.4 per cent, of the total number of female farmers were widows. Married women, who were next in im- portance to the widows, formed only 15.6 per cent. Single women formed 9.1 per cent. Of the 47 occupations employing 5,000 or more women, this showed the lowest proportion of single women and the highest proportion of widows. Turning to the classification of women as to type or kind of agricultural occupation engaged in, the Twelfth Census reports as follows for females ten years of age and over in continental United States: farm and plantation laborers, 220,048; farm laborers (members of family), 441,055; garden and nursery laborers, 2,106; dairy women, 892; farmers and planters, 291,181; farmers (members of family), 14,691; farm and planta- tion overseers, 1,583; milk farmers, 251; gardeners, 1," 124 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN florists, nursery women, and vine-growers, 1,136; fruit-growers, 525; stock -raisers, 1,081; stock herders and drovers, 851; apia- rists, 48. With this general statement before us, we may consider some- what more in detail some of the opportunities for women in agri- cultural occupations other than teaching; and we shall look at the question as a matter of choice of life-work rather than as an inherited responsibility with little or no alternative. General Farming. There would seem to be no inherent rea- sons why women should not occupy positions of responsibility and trust in connection with almost every line of agriculture. There are numerous instances in which a farmer's success has de- pended more on the business ability, knowledge, energy, and tact of his wife than on his own attainments; and it is a safe assump- tion that these women would have managed a farm for themselves successfully, as a number of women are doing. With equal abilities there should be approximately equal results in managing a farm for one's self. In managing a farm for others, however, a woman would need not only to show equal ability with a man, but to overcome what might be called a traditional prejudice against women occupying unusual positions. The proprietor of an estate would require that a woman should have demonstrated that she is more than equal to a man competitor for a position before he would give her the preference. There is evidence, how- ever, that this hindrance to woman's advancement is not so pro- nounced as it used to be. Another difficulty that women would meet in managing farms for others is that much of the labor in most of these estab- lishments can be done better by men than by women, and that most men prefer not to be under the supervision of a woman. Frequently this is mere prejudice, but it is difficult to overcome. There are not now many openings for women in general farm- ing except as women undertake it as a private enterprise. This is, no doubt, partly the result of woman's not having entered the field as a competitor, as is the case in certain European countries. With improved methods and means of farming there is no reason, however, why an increasing number of women may not engage AGRICULTURE 125 therein. For such work their preparation would need to be at least as thorough as would be required of men for similar posi- tions. As to salary, women would doubtless have to start at less salary than men, simply to secure an opportunity to demon- strate equal ability. Special Farming. In certain specialties, however, the oppor- tunities for women are as great as for men, and in these special- ties women have shown their hand more than in general farming enterprises. It would seem pre-eminently fitting for women to become managers of poultry-raising, bee-keeping, and flower- growing establishments, and, in but slightly less degree, of vege- table-gardening and fruit-growing enterprises. In certain lines of dairying, women have made notable successes. In the more technical phases of these specialties, demanding a high degree of training and expertness, there are increasing opportunities for capable women who have had sufficient special education. We shall discuss these specialties separately. Poultry-raising. There are four possible opportunities for women to engage in poultry husbandry aside from teaching the subject: (a) running a poultry farm for themselves; (b) work- ing for others in managing a poultry enterprise; (c) investigating poultry problems; (d) writing for the press, this to be com- bined with any of the other three. The first field offers the best inducements to the average woman, primarily because the work is not so heavy as that of most other agricultural occupations. It requires less capital and a smaller amount of land and equip- ment than certain other branches of agriculture. Furthermore, woman is especially well adapted to look after details such as are required in the raising of poultry. There are many conspicuous examples of women who have been successful in running poultry farms for themselves. The second field offers less inducements to women because men in charge of poultry farms believe that women, as a rule, are not physically qualified to do the work in a way that men could be depended on to do it, rain or shine, under all conditions and circumstances. In the third field, women who have adequate technical education, coupled with practical experience, have an excellent opportunity to engage in investiga- tion of poultry problems at the agricultural experiment stations. 126 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Few experiment stations have yet awaked to the realization that women may be employed to good advantage as investiga- tors, but where women have been so employed, they have shown special fitness. In the last field there are now many women who are successful writers on poultry subjects. For the most part they are engaged in raising poultry for themselves. This work, however, must be considered as an avocation rather than a vocation. In preparation, a woman, to engage successfully in raising poultry for herself or for others, in investigation, or in writing for the press, must secure information and practical skill such as can best be acquired through a poultry course in one of the agri- cultural schools or colleges, combined with experience on a success- ful poultry farm. When such school or college training cannot be had, a longer apprenticeship on a poultry farm becomes neces- sary. Success depends upon careful attention to details, close application to business, good judgment in buying and selling, and skill in the handling of the flock. When these requirements are met, there are few, if any, agricultural occupations that offer better opportunities for women who enjoy the work. As to income, a good living with what would be a reasonable wage in other occupations open to women could be expected in the keeping of poultry. Approximately $1 per year per hen should be made, provided the location, markets, and other con- ditions are favorable. Many women have done better than this. One woman of ordinary strength should be able to care for 500 fowls and rear the chickens each year to renew the flock. With best modern methods and some additional help the num- ber could be increased to 1,000 or more. The salary for man- aging a poultry farm for another and the payments for articles contributed to the poultry press should equal those paid to men for similar work. As an indication of the success women may attain in raising poultry for themselves, it may be interesting to note the following statements from two farm women, selected at random from a number of letters from women on farms: AGRICULTURE 127 This year I sold $110 worth of eggs from 60 hens, besides hatching 254 chicks, and using a great many eggs in the family. I have now 128 fowls. They began laying in November, and we have sold from 2 to 7 dozen all winter, at 40 cents. I had one-half acre prepared for small fruit, 1,700 raspberries, and 2,000 strawberries between. My straw- berries did fairly well, and the raspberries looked fine. After the first picking the dry hot weather hurt them very much, so we got about half a crop. It netted about $75. I have an asparagus bed, and cur- rant cuttings set out, and about 4,000 strawberries in another place for next year. Last year (1905) I had 75 hens. They laid 900 dozen eggs. The average price for those I sold was 23 cents per dozen. That would be $207. Then I sold $80 worth of poultry, which would be $287, and I have 95 hens left, and my flock is worth a great deal more, as I saved only my best. I cannot tell just what it cost to feed them, but am sure $100 paid for all I fed them, as they have free range. I am sure I re- ceived $200 profit from them. Besides, I take pleasure in caring for them. I have neither incubator nor brooder. The hens do it all. Dairying. The openings for women in dairy work at the pres- ent time appear to be: (a) the general management of dairy farms, including the handling of the stock, the production of milk, and possibly other dairy products, many women are now successfully running dairy farms, are enjoying the work and getting good returns; (6) the manufacture of milk into butter or fancy cheese, there are good opportunities for women on the farm to make their milk into a high grade of butter or into Neufchatel, cottage, or cream cheese, and get good returns for the product; (c) work in dairy bacteriology for those who have the necessary technical training. The number of openings, at the present time, for women in these lines of dairy work is not very great, but it is increasing constantly as women acquire the necessary knowledge for the different kinds of work and recognize that it is pleasant and profit- able. The length of time necessary to secure the adequate train- ing depends upon the nature of the work to be undertaken. To manage a dairy farm successfully, it is necessary to have wide general experience and training. For the manufacture of fancy .butter or cheese a short winter course in one of the schools or 128 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN colleges of agriculture will suffice; and one who cannot take such a course may be able to master the work by practical experi- ence based on the reliable published instructions that are avail- able in books and bulletins. For work in bacteriology one should have a college course, including not less than one, and preferably two years of bacteriological work. It is impossible to state with any degree of definiteness the salaries that may be expected except in the case of women who undertake bacteriological work. A number of women are now engaged as bacteriologists, and are receiving at the outset $50 to $60 per month with rapid increase up to $1,000 or $1,200 per year. For the practical work the income will vary from a bare subsistence to a very comfortable living, as measured by the capability of the person. Horticulture. In the practical field of horticulture there is no limit or restriction to the possibilities of woman's work. She may engage in any of the fields open to men. If, however, she is to be a hand worker, some limitations will arise. In this event the department of floriculture offers the most attractive oppor- tunities. In the greenhouse, women have made notable suc- cesses, although it should be remembered that greenhouse work is as trying and strenuous as almost any vocation one may enter. What the financial possibilities are in this field is dependent upon the business ability, practical knowledge, and perseverance of the worker. In the cut-flower industry, women are very generally employed in the making of designs and in the handling of the flower products. This is somewhat exhausting work in that the temperature desirable for the preservation of flowers is always low and the atmosphere is necessarily moist. The salaries paid to ordinary workers in this phase of floriculture range from $7 to $15 per week, while competent forewomen secure as much as $20 to $30 per week. The woman who has had a good foundation in the principles of agriculture may engage in truck-gardening, commercial flori- culture, or orcharding, provided she is supplied with sufficient capital properly to launch the enterprise. In the vicinity of large cities there is attractive opportunity for women in these AGRICULTURE 129 fields. For all these vocations a good general training, such as can be best secured in the agricultural colleges, but may be se- cured by reading, observation, and experience, is a fundamental requisite. The openings for women in the more special and technical branches may be roughly classified as follows: as clerical and technical assistants in civil service positions, salaries $600 to $1,500; assistants in laboratories engaged in horticultural work, botany, plant pathology and physiology, floriculture and land- scape art, salaries $500 to $1,000. In the field of journalism there is at present considerable demand for nature-study material from persons who are qualified to make first-hand observations and deductions. While the number of openings in this field is not large, the opportunities will probably increase in the future. Payment is usually made on the basis of quality and character of work. Home canning and preserving cannot compete with commercial enterprises, but frequently a woman may build up a local trade that will greatly supplement her other sources of income. This is well shown in the following statement from a farm woman : I have several hundred currant and gooseberry bushes, from which fruit I can make jelly and jam for city people, which brings me in quite a little extra pocket money. Making Chili sauce, sour cucumber pickles, sweet tomato pickles from the cucumbers and tomatoes that are left after I put up my own fruit also brings me in quite a little extra money. From the extra fruit cherries, berries, pears, peaches, and prunes that we raise on our place I have put up as many as 50 cans for one person, and I have all I can do of that kind of work. I get people's cans be- fore they go on their summer vacation, and return them in the fall, and they are always glad to pay a good price for this kind of work, and to know they can depend on having everything good. I have been at this work for over ten years. Bee-keeping. While not many women have undertaken bee-keep- ing as their means of livelihood, a large number enjoy it as an avocation and as a means of supplementing their available funds. It offers an attractive field for women who are willing to devote 130 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN sufficient study and application to it and who are in good physi- cal condition. There is little work about an apiary that a woman of ordinary strength cannot do alone. Any intelligent woman can start the keeping of bees herself with the aid of books and journals. It will advantage her, however, if she can have a season's experi- ence in a successful apiary. Little capital is necessary at the start, perhaps $50 or $75, as experience is more important than capital in developing a paying apiary. The profits will vary with the seasons. In good years each colony may return a net profit of $4 or even $5, while in less favorable seasons $2 or $2.50 may be all that is returned. As it is seldom profitable to keep more than 75 to 100 hives in one apiary, a limit is put on what may be earned. Since the care given to bees is intermit- tent and during part of the year is very little, this industry fits in well with the raising of poultry, berries, fruit, flowers, or vege- tables. Technical Specialties. The highest type of expertness and the longest period of training are demanded when we enter the very technical phases of agriculture, as plant-breeding, plant pathology, landscape gardening, and entomology. Such work de- mands careful college preparation, supplemented by post-grad- uate work or personal investigation and study. For much of this work, women are well adapted, and persons having the requisite training should be able to secure positions. A com- paratively small number of women now hold such positions, largely in experiment stations, the United States Department of Agriculture, or in other research and educational institutions. These positions pay eventually, perhaps, the highest salaries, comparing favorably with the best salaries paid to women in any occupation. Notwithstanding that not many women have yet undertaken farming in some of its phases on their own initiative and respon- sibility, there is an increasing tendency for women to leave cleri- cal work, teaching, and other occupations, and to enter the field of agriculture. As farming becomes better understood and better organized, the opportunities for women to enter it with prospect of a good living will multiply. Many women who are the wives and daughters of farmers are taking charge of different depart- AGRICULTURE 131 ments of farm work. Our schools and colleges of agriculture are enrolling an increasing number of women students in agriculture. The experience of some of the older countries will, in some respects, become our experience. At Swanley, Kent, England, there has been established a College of Agriculture for Women, to train women to become head-gardeners on estates, landscape gardeners, and the like. In this country the State colleges of agriculture are co-educational, so that women have equal opportunities with men in preparation for farming as a life-work. In increasing numbers they are accepting the opportunity. WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE KENYON L. BUTTERFIELD PEEBIDENT, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE I should like to emphasize this fact at the outset, that women who have an interest in country life, and who are alert in master- ing the details of practical things, have open to them remarkable opportunities for satisfactory vocations in the realm of social service in connection with the development of our agricultural and country life institutions. First, of course, there is the teaching profession. Teachers of agriculture are needed, to some degree, in the lower grades, and will soon be needed in the high schools. For some of these posi- tions men will be demanded, but experience has shown that women may become very successful, especially with young pupils, in arousing an interest in real agriculture. The rural librarian has a field of service that has not yet been very fully developed. In the country a library may be made far more a means of com- munity education than it is to-day, and the librarian may become something more than a keeper of books; she may become a leader in the intellectual life of the community. As the interest in our country life develops, there will be found other occupations also that are distinctively social in their character, but which require some knowledge of, and sympathy with, agriculture and 132 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN country life. I emphasize these opportunities because many young women who desire to associate themselves with agricul- ture in some form may find these vocations fully as remunerative as those which are concerned with the business side of industry, and perhaps even more satisfactory. I suppose, however, that the purpose of these articles is to indicate the opportunities in practical work. Part of what I shall say in a general way will probably be reiterated by those specialists who take up various phases of this subject, who are far more competent than I to speak of the advantages and disad- vantages of agriculture for women. It seems to me, however, that several things ought to be understood very clearly. In the first place it is doubtful if very many salaried positions will open to women in the agricultural occupations. That is a rather important consideration, because salaried positions for men in agriculture are increasing more rapidly than the supply of prop- erly trained men. It means, therefore, that most women who want to go into agriculture must become independent farmers. That is, they must establish a business of their own. Now to establish even a small business in agriculture requires some capital, and if intensive farming is to be followed, such as flower-growing or poultry, it takes quite a little capital, relatively, to start with. This should not be regarded as an utterly discouraging difficulty, but it should not be lost sight of. If young women have a form of work that brings them a living, but desire to get into some phase of agriculture, it might be wise for them to begin their new work in a small way, as a sort of avocation. After a time, if they can suc- ceed at all, they will find the business growing so that they can afford to give up the former work, and devote all their energies to the new work. Meanwhile the capital will have been produced from the returns of the growing business. This idea of making modest beginnings is worth noting. An illustration of the failure of both men and women to do this is found frequently in the poultry industry. On the face of things the raising of chickens is one of the easiest things in the world: practically, it is an art that only a few can become adepts in. Or perhaps it would be fairer to say that, while poultry are the most amenable of any living thing to the ordinary care given in AGRICULTURE 133 the farm-yard or on the village lot, when the business is extended so that it becomes the main reliance of an individual, there are problems arising of which he did not dream when he simply "kept a few chickens." Another piece of advice that it is hardly necessary to give is to prepare fully. Occasionally a young woman who graduates from an agricultural college goes to farming. Agricultural high schools are springing up all over the land, and probably will soon be so numerous that they will train far more boys and girls di- rectly for practical farming than do the agricultural colleges. Nearly every agricultural college gives special courses in the winter or in the summer, where mature people, who cannot spend time for a full college course in agriculture, can gain an immense amount of practical information, get an insight into the modern principles of agriculture, and have opened up to them the riches of the new agricultural literature. These courses are inexpensive, and are freely taken by women as well as by men. Several of our agri- cultural colleges also have correspondence and reading courses, which may be pursued either independently or as supplementing the work of the winter or summer school. WOMEN AS FARMERS K. C. LIVERMORE INSTRUCTOR IN FARM MANAGEMENT, NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURH AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY THE AGRICULTURAL SURVEY. The New York State College of Agriculture has made an agri- cultural survey in Tompkins County, New York, for the purpose of determining and studying the condition of farming. During the summer of 1908 practically every farm in the towns of Ithaca, Dryden, Danby, and Lansing was visited. A record was taken of the business of each farm for the preceding year. 134 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN CALCULATIONS FROM RECORDS. Each record shows the total capital invested in the business, any increase or decrease in this capital for the year, all the farm receipts for the year, and all the farm expenses for the year. Receipts minus expenses is called the farm income. An increase in capital is included with receipts, and a decrease is included with expenses. Personal and household expenses are not considered, because whether one buys new hats or puts the money in the bank does not matter in determining the profits in farming. The value of board of paid laborers is included as an expense. The farm income is what the farmer had to live on, if he had no previous debts, besides having farm products to eat and a house to live in. It represents what the unpaid labor and the capital together produced. The farm income minus 5 per cent, interest on the capital is called the family labor income. It is the product of all unpaid labor on the farm. The family labor income, minus the value of all unpaid labor except the farmer's, is called the labor income of the farmer. It represents what the farmer has cleared above all farm expenses and above 5 per cent, interest on his capital, besides having the use of a house and such farm products as were consumed in the house. USE OF RECORDS. From these records, studies are being made of the profits in farming as related to systems of farming, size of farms, amount of capital invested, crop yields, soil types, and many other factors. This article is the result of a study of women as farmers. WHY THERE ARE WOMEN FARMERS. With a few possible exceptions the women in these towns are concerned with the business of farming simply as a result of chance. It was not their choice in the first place to be farmers. They were wives or daughters of farmers, and inherited their farms. About half of these women rented their farms to tenants, and received their incomes in the form of rent. They cannot be called farmers, since they are not directly concerned in the farm AGRICULTURE 135 operations. The other half chose to continue to make the farm their home rather than rent it. Some of these women have taken up the business of farming and engaged in it actively. Others are living on the farms and accepting such incomes as the farms furnish, without making much effort to increase the businessr Jf we could eliminate from the following calculations the incomes of those who just lived on their farms and did not really farm them, the average income made by these women would undoubtedly be greater. NUMBER OF WOMEN FARMERS AND LANDLORDS. Of 957 farms in these 4 towns, 87, or more than 9 per cent., were owned by women. Of these 87 farms, 41 were operated by their owners, and 46, or 53 per cent., were rented to tenants. Of the 870 farms owned by men, only 16 per cent, were rented to tenants. The comparison shows that a much greater proportion of the women than of the men rent their farms in preference to assuming the direct management of them. This would naturally be expected. Altogether there were 181 rented farms, and 25 per cent, of these were owned by women. Of the tenants on these 181 rented farms, only one was a woman. AREA AND CAPITAL. The women owned about 9,077 acres in these 4 towns, 104 acres apiece on the average. The largest farm owned by a woman contained 409 acres. All the farm property, land, buildings, ma- chinery, and stock owned by these women amounted to $396,152. The women who personally operated their farms had an average investment of $4,922. Those who rented their farms, and who, therefore, had much less invested in stock and machinery, had an average investment of $4,225. The largest investment by a woman was $16,075. FARM INCOME. Complete records of the year's business were obtained from 32 of the women farmers, and the profits calculated on these. The average farm income made by these women was $428. 136 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Besides having the use of a house and farm products to eat, the average woman had $428 to live on, provided there was no pre- vious indebtedness. This amount in the country, with no rent to pay, with at least half the table necessities and most of the fuel supplied, affords a comfortable living. LABOR INCOME. The average labor income made by these women was $137. In addition to the use of the house, the farm products, and 5 per cent, interest on her investment, the average woman made $137. This is about one-third as much as the men made above their interest. The average labor income made by all the men, including all those who just lived on their farms and who were not really farming, was $393. The average labor income alone does not give a complete idea of the opportunities for women as farmers. Of these 32 women farmers : 13 made $100 to $ as labor income 4 " " 100 " 9 " 101 " 200 " " 1 " 230 " " 1 ' 351 " " 1 " 516 " " 1 " 592 " " 1 " 897 " " " 1 " 920 " " " It is evident that, although some women do not succeed as farmers, there are others who are making very good incomes. A study of the most successful ones will be interesting. MOST SUCCESSFUL WOMEN FARMERS. A Large Hay and Grain Farm. The business for the year of one of the most successful women farmers may be summarized as follows: AGRICULTURE 137 Area. Tillable 340 acres Timber and brush ... 59 " Wasteland 10 " Total . . 409 acres Capital. Real estate $14,000 Machinery and tools . . 475 Horses 550 Other stock 250 AD else 800 Total $16,075 Receipts. Wheat Oats . Barley . . . Buckwheat . Hay .... Potatoes . . Apples . . . Butter . . . Eggs .... Poultry . . . Hogs .... Miscellaneous Total $400 65 300 175 1,470 8 40 20 40 18 45 63 $2,644 Farm Expenses. Labor and board .... $567 Seeds 20 Fertilizers 60 Machinery SO Fences 28 Building repairs .... 15 Horse shoeing, threshing, and miscellaneous . . . 155 Total , $870 Total receipts Total expenses Farm income . . 5% interest on capital Family labor income Unpaid family labor . $2,644 870 $1,774 804 $970 50 Woman's labor income $920 Besides the use of her house and the farm products this woman had $1,774 to live on. Of this the capital may be said to have 138 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN produced $804, and according to her own estimate $50 was earned by other members of the family, but not paid, leaving $920 as the amount she alone produced. Like many of the women farmers, this one found it easier, and probably more economical as well, to have most of the crops grown "on shares'*; that is, a neighbor did all the work of raising and harvesting the crops, furnished half the seed and fertilizer, and received half the crops for pay. The woman was thus relieved of most of the responsibilities. Two cows, about 50 hens, and 4 hogs supplied the family with milk, butter, poultry, eggs, and pork, and furnished a surplus for sale. There were 5 horses on the place, and a colt was being raised. This farm was the largest and had the largest total capital of all the farms owned by women. Its success was primarily due to its size. Averages of all the farms in these four towns show very distinctly that the larger farms pay better. Only $60 worth of fertilizer was used, and very little stock was kept on this farm. For about six years crops had been taken off and but little fertility returned to the farm. Of course, the farm was depreciating in fertility, and cannot be expected to pay as well indefinitely. A Fruit Farm. Area. Capital. Tillable 64 acres Real estate $3,000 Timber 6 " Machinery and tools . . 300 Waste land 1 acre Horses 350 Other stock 500 Total 71 acres All else 66 Land worked on shares . 65 Total $4,216 Total acres worked . 136 acres AGRICULTURE 139 Receipts. Hay $150 Plums 900 Peaches 200 Wool . . 54 Lambs 91 Eggs 165 Butter 10 Miscellaneous 18 Share of receipts from 65 acres . 200 Farm Expenses. Labor and board .... Feed Fertilizers Machinery and repairs . Building and fence repairs, Horseshoeing, threshing, and miscellaneous Total $375 50 33 -42 140 40 $680 Total $1,788 Total receipts $1,788 Total expenses 680 Farm income $1,108 5% interest on capital 211 Woman's labor income $897 With 3 horses, $300 worth of machinery, and $375 worth of hired help this woman ran her farm, planted and harvested all the crops, and cared for the stock. Not any of the land was worked on shares. On the other hand, the farm was found too small, and 65 acres of a neighboring farm were added to it. After paying a share of the crops as rent for this additional land, $200 worth of crops were sold. Two cows, 30 sheep, 100 hens, and 2 hogs were kept. After supplying the family needs, there were sold $5.83 worth of wool and lambs from each sheep, and. $1.10 worth of eggs from each hen. It is not possible to point to any one feature of this business as the reason for its success. The farm, including the rented land, is larger than the average. It can hardly be called a specialized fruit farm, because only two-thirds of the receipts are from fruit, and in the record it is remarked that the orchards were not well cared for and needed attention. Three Women in Partnership. Three women in partnership managed their farm more successfully than many of the men farmers in the neighborhood. The labor problem was solved, 140 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN by taking in a fourth partner, a man, who acted as foreman. He paid one-fourth of the seed and labor expenses, and received a house, board, and one-fourth of the receipts from crops and lumber. Capital. Real estate $8,400 Machinery and tools . . 1,000 Horses 980 Area. Tillable 125 acres Timber 60 " Permanent pasture ... 50 " Wasteland . 5 " Other live stock All else 1,045 725 Total. . 240 acres Total $12,150 Receipts. Farm Expenses. Wheat $271 Labor and board, includ- Oats 192 ing foreman's share of Buckwheat 68 crops $950 Hay 752 Seeds 62 Potatoes 15 Fertilizer 58 Walnuts 18 Machinery and repairs . 57 Lumber 300 Building repairs .... S3 Turkeys 41 Fences 37 Eggs and poultry ... 108 Miscellaneous 23 Pork . . 173 Sheep, lambs, and wool . 189 Total $1,220 Milk 636 Cattle 112 Crops for sale still on hand at the end of the year 300 Rent 200 Total $3,375 Total receipts $3,375 Total expenses 1,220 Farm income $2,155 5% interest on capital 607 Labor income for 3 women $1,548 Labor income for 1 woman 516 AGRICULTURE 141 The acreages of the various crops were: corn, 12; wheat, 18; oats, 45; buckwheat, 14; hay, 70; potatoes, 1%. With these crops, minus what was sold, there were kept 15 head of cattle, 7 horses, 2 colts, 35 sheep, 2 hogs, 20 pigs, 150 hens, and 4 turkeys. The farm was run in a business-like way. Accounts and records were carefully kept for the entire business. These women were really farming, and, moreover, farming successfully. A Dairy Farm. A retail milk business provided a fair income for another woman farmer. On a farm of 50 acres she grew most of the feed for 11 cows, 3 horses, and 45 hens. Some vegetables were raised, and sold to the milk customers. Area, 50 acres. Receipts. Vegetables ...... $159 Milk at 6 cts ...... 1,118 Eggs ......... 20 Total ....... $1,297 Capital, $4,635. Farm Expenses. Labor ......... Seeds ......... Feed ......... Machinery and repairs . . Miscellaneous ..... Total . $450 11 140 25 68 Total receipts $1,297 Total expenses 694 Farm income .... 5% interest on capital Family labor income . Unpaid family labor . $603 232 Woman's labor income $371 20 $351 With a small farm and small equipment this income is as large as can reasonably be expected for this type of farming. WOMEN LANDLORDS. Of the 46 rented farms owned by women, complete records were obtained for 37. The farm income for the landlord and the 142 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN per cent, which this was on the investments were figured in each case. The per cent, made on the investments varied from a loss of 66 per cent, to a profit of 28.6 per cent. 2 made less than 0% 12 " from 1%- 5% 4 " " 5.1%- 6% 4 " " 6.1%- 7% 2 " " 7.1%- 8% 3 " 8.1%- 9% 2 " " 9.1%-10% 1 " 10.60% 1 " 11.15% 1 " 12.91% 1 " 13.75% 1 " 16.78% 1 " 20.37% 1 " 21.42% 1 " 28.60% The average per cent, made by the women landlords was 7.84. All the landlords, including both men and women, made an aver- age per cent, on the investment of 8.31. The per cent, made on the investment is only half the story. It is interesting to know just how much these women landlords re- ceived above their farm expenses. These farm incomes varied from a loss of $42 to a profit of $936. In 10 cases it was more than $500. SYSTEMS OF RENTAL. Only one of these 37 farms was rented for half the crops. Twelve were rented for a cash rent; and in 24 cases the landlords furnished some of the stock, usually half of all stock except the horses, and received half the receipts, including those from both crops and stock. The average per cent, on the investment made by the landlords who rented for cash rent was 4.38: that made by those who rented for half of the receipts was 9.28. It paid these land- lords to help stock their farms. AGRICULTURE 143 WOMEN FARMERS v. WOMEN LANDLORDS. The women who personally managed their farms, doing more or less work, had a house to live in, milk, eggs, butter, meat, vege- tables, wood, etc., to use in the house, and $428 to live on. The women who rented their farms to tenants and did no work themselves received from them, above their farm expenses, $310 on the average, without having farm products and the use of a house. GENERAL FARMING JEAN KANE FOULKE The ordinary college education is not sufficient to fit a woman to take up farming as a profession, unless she has, in addition, certain training which she can get only in one of two ways, either by the practical experience of having lived on a farm for years and having been an interested and active factor in its work- ings or by having taken a course in practical general farming at one of our agricultural colleges.* If she is intending to special- ize, it is desirable for her success to have taken the general course and the special course also. There is probably no profession or business in which a good education, with the mental poise and balance it gives, is of more value than in farming, and therefore the college graduate starts with a force within herself which the average woman lacks. But with all this, farming, while it is possible work for a woman, has many serious and almost insur- mountable difficulties. I am writing of general farming, such as includes planting and raising, working and harvesting crops of various kinds, fruit, trucking, dairy products, stock-raising and the care thereof, and the management of machinery, and last, but not least, employees. That there are many of these branches * The colleges giving women the best courses in agriculture are Cornell Univer- sity, Pennsylvania State College, University of Wisconsin, University of Missouri, University of Illinois. 144 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN in which women can specialize successfully is true, to many of them they are especially adapted; but to make any of them pay as a business (and that is the point of view from which we must regard them), they must be run as branches, possibly the most important part of the farm work, but dependent on the general farm for their success, for any farm business or branch of farm- ing that is large enough to produce a livelihood for its owner must have general farming as its basis. Take, for instance, dairy work, butter and cheese, cream and milk, to all of which women seem adapted. The aesthetic side appeals to us, and we can picture the dairy with its sweet fresh- ness, its shiny pans, with firm yellow butter and rich golden cream, possibly a trellis over the door, with roses and white- wash, pure and sanitary, with a cultivated, money-making young woman in charge. But this is the picture dairy, and except as a picture does not exist, in reality, the dairy must be there, and so must the inevitable separator and other machinery run by power. Even the dear old churn is "run," not turned, and the poetry is left out. But in either case we must come back to the general farm for our original supply. The successful owner of a farm dairy must understand the care of cattle, breeding, etc. She must, to prevent the waste of her most valuable by-product, understand the care and breeding of pigs. She must be able to run her farm so as to produce her feeds as much as possible, corn, oats, hay, etc., etc. The use of these various things, the filling of silos and the feeding of ensilage; the milking, the clean- ing of stables and care of manure, all this is fundamental to the production of milk and the running of a successful dairy, and, after all, comes down to general farming. The dairy products are only a most important branch. For general farming, I think, women are unfitted physically, and most women have not even the muscle necessary to under- take such an occupation. Of necessity a woman must depend upon hired male labor, and even more than a man must be de- pendent upon some man or men to such an extent that the busi- ness is largely run by them and not by her. This is not because she does not know or have brains enough to work and run her farm, but because she is of too frail a build for much of the work AGRICULTURE 145 needed. The labor problem is the most difficult one that any farmer has to solve to-day, and it is doubly so for a woman. It is almost impossible for a woman to get men who will obey her orders, and even when she succeeds in getting a class of labor intelligent enough to understand orders when given, she micst depend on some one of inferior intelligence to help her, as the price of skilled labor would eat up her profits. Farm life, more- over, is a life of great exposure, loneliness, and risk, as most farm buildings are isolated. It is, then, a serious risk to her personal safety for a woman to go down to her barn or pig-pen at night to sit up with or care for an ailing animal. Many times, too, she would not be strong enough to give the treatment needed without assistance, and if she calls in an ordinary farm laborer, she is exposed to a danger too hideous to contemplate. This does not mean, however, that a farm raising, as branches, berries and fruits, vegetables, butter and cheese, squabs, violets and carnations, or mushrooms, etc., cannot be successfully run by a woman if the surroundings are right, for much of the labor in these occupations is light and pleasant and healthful. The grade of labor to be employed here need not be of the common farm-hand type. A boy or boys, with an occasional helping day from a man, would be all that would be needed. If the prospect- ive farmer is fortunate enough to have her family home on a farm, all these branches may be open to her, for she would then have all the necessary masculine help at hand in father or brother, husband or son, whom she can call at all hours. She can herself buy and sell, oversee work, and do much of the detail. But the woman who sets out to farm by herself must expect many bitter moments and disappointments, and money loss which she cannot control. No woman should undertake farming as a profession who has not self-control, dignity of bearing, courage, tact, strength and health, and a large measure of common sense. 146 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN DAIRY FARMING CHARLOTTE BARRELL WARE " WARELANDS ' ' I wish to consider dairy farming: first, as a permanent occu- pation for women; second, as a training for preventive work in relation to public health. Two classes of women may be con- sidered in relation to the work: A. Those of ample means, who work indirectly through an efficient agent (usually a high-priced superintendent, who has the actual charge of all details of organization and manage- ment). B. Those of moderate means, who are themselves to be the organizers and managers of the business. I. Dairy Farming as a Permanent Occupation. Most women in dairy work to-day are on farms to which fam- ily association and ownership, not selection because of fitness for that branch of industry, have brought them. On such an in- herited farm one may of course be forced to make the best of conditions which would be eliminated in the choice of a new one. If free to purchase, one should consider not alone the fertility of the soil, but many other points, such as transportation facilities,, relation to the market, ice supply, etc. In either case the de- termination of the product for which individual farm conditions are best suited must be carefully worked out, remembering always that modern farming is intensive, that it is the day of special- ization, and that to keep the output of one high-grade dairy product unvaryingly to the standard, day in and day out, with the mercury at 98 degrees above or 10 below zero, delivered at the same hour, morning after morning, many miles away, to cus- tomers who make no allowance for winter storms or summer accidents, is far more difficult than is supposed by the unin- itiated. In a general way, milk and cream may be recommended AGRICULTURE 147 for farms nearer the market, butter and cheese for those at a greater distance. For all these, I believe, there is an excellent opening throughout New England. The women of Group A may render valuable service to a com- munity by setting higher standards, making experiments which others could not afford to make, letting their farms serve as an object-lesson to the countryside, provided always that the farm meets justly the economic conditions of the local market and does not undersell the cost of production. There must be a "living wage" margin in the milk business as well as in any other, and this must not be disregarded by the wealthy woman who would help, rather than harm, others taking up the same oc- cupation. The requirements for the women of Class B are: 1. Love of country life and farm work. 2. Great courage and steadfastness of purpose, which shall hold through all obstacles. 3. Good physique. Strength of body is frequently needed to meet emergencies. 4. Capital enough (possession of farm assumed) to equip with modern dairy apparatus and to carry through bad seasons due to drought, disease, or unexpected cause. 5. Clear appreciation of the great confinement of the work and readiness to accept the same cheerfully. While the routine of the work varies with the season and lo- cality, the outline of a day's work may best suggest the variety of problems to be dealt with. At 4.30 in the summer I am at the dairy, ready to pack or superintend the packing of the milk and cream of the previous night's milking, which leaves daily at five o'clock. From five to seven, cooling, bottling, packing in ice, ready for shipment, requires quick, expert work to get the second shipment off, which carries the morning's milk. Meanwhile the steam boiler must have been looked after, so that the steam pump may be running while we are at breakfast, and the steam may be up ready for immediate use after breakfast for the forenoon's work at the dairy. I superintend the cleaning of the bottling-room, which includes washing the cement walls, ceiling, and floor, and then going over all with live steam. All 148 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN utensils and empty bottles are then washed and put in the ster- ilizer, where, after a half-hour of steam at a high temperature, they remain until taken out for the afternoon's milking. Leaving the latter part of the work in the dairy building to an assistant, I usually go off to the barn for consultation with the herdsman regarding the needs of individual cows or supplies of grain, and for inspection of the daily milk records; then over the farm, to see if the various kinds of field work are progress- ing satisfactorily according to directions given the previous day. The purchase of supplies of all kinds for house, barn, and dairy, planning of field work, attending to the maintenance and repair of equipment, looking after new construction, records and accurate accounts at every point, which are of vital importance, correspondence, occupy the middle of the day, and before one knows it it is again time to be in the dairy for the four o'clock afternoon milking. Supper out of doors, followed by a quiet, restful evening, and off to the tents, not later than nine o'clock, for a sound night's sleep. An agricultural college training is, of course, the best prepa- ration for dairy work. Next to that would be a year's appren- ticeship on a similar farm, followed by the short (three months') course at an agricultural college. The woman who takes up this work after a general college course will find herself fortu- nate if she has the equipment of bacteriology and chemistry, as well as physics. While this is not a question of sex, yet a woman usually has, by inheritance and training, certain personal equipments which adapt her especially, it seems to me, for dairy work. It is simply good household economics worked out in barn and dairy. Much more easily will she find some one who can do the field work well, under her direction, than one who will attend to the many essential and never-ending details of the aseptic technique, which she must master thoroughly at the be- ginning of her work for the successful handling of clean milk. It is this large amount of labor required which makes the prod- uct so expensive, the cost of which is even yet very little real- ized by the consumer. AGRICULTURE 149 II. Clean Milk in its Relation to Public Health: the Educational Aspect of the Dairy Work. "Clean" milk may need definition. In Boston it may be: 1. "Certified," which demands, according to the standard fixed by the Milk Commission of the Suffolk District Medical Society, milk containing less than 10,000 bacteria per cubic cen- timetre from a tuberculin-tested herd. 2. "Inspected," a term in general use for milk containing less than 100,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre, from a tuber- culin-tested herd. 3. "Clean" enough to pass the legal requirement of the Board of Health, not more than 500,000 bacteria per cubic cen- timetre ! At my own farm last summer we began a simple educational experiment in the form of our first dairy class, to study the meth- ods of production and this broader relation of the clean-milk work. Lectures and demonstrations were given on barn and dairy construction, sanitation, the herd, care and feeding. All members of the class had laboratory work in the dairy, so that they might understand the details of washing and sterilizing utensils, of running the steam boiler and separator, of cooling, bottling, packing, and refrigerating the milk. The use of the Babcock tester for determination of fat content, and the simple bacteriological tests required to determine the cleanliness of the milk, were, of course, included. Experts lectured on the trans- portation and distribution of the milk supply of a large city, and the class visited various farms supplying the Boston market and large distributing stations where milk is brought from long distances. They then passed on to the study of the relation of clean milk to public health, and of the splendid preventive meas- ures which are being developed in Boston at the present time by hospitals, dispensaries, and the Milk Committee milk stations for the distribution of whole and modified milk, with their weekly consultations, and their education of the mother through visiting nurses, who follow up individual cases in the homes. The many requests which have come to me this year, asking if I could recommend any one for work in which this broader 150 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN knowledge of the subject is considered an influential factor, indi- cate that there is an unfilled demand in this field. The personnel of last year's dairy class is interesting in its bearing upon the sort of work with which this co-ordinates. Of the six students, one was the head of a school having a home- making department; another, a teacher of foods in a school of domestic science; two were graduates of a schoo; of domestic science, preparing to teach; one, a trained nurse; and the sixth, a graduate of the School for Social Workers, who was taking up a special piece of work in market inspection. Along this line of inspection, whether of milk alone or of other foods including milk, as in the case just referred to, there is, I believe, large opportunity for the trained woman who shall add personal tact to technical training. I know of only two women who have taken up this work, and both have shown marked success. It is along the line of preventive work, I believe, that the opportunity lies for the young woman starting out without capital. With the present high cost of grain and hay and the food prod- ucts needed for the farm laborers, one must consider carefully before entering, as an independent producer, a field where the sale of the product has not risen proportionately with the cost of production, and where the difficulty of securing efficient helpers with any sense of responsibility must be constant. The dairy farm of New England is not a field in which either men or women are getting large financial returns, as far as I am able to judge, but it does offer a most attractive contrast to the congested oc- cupations of the city. It offers an independence, a breadth of life under more wholesome normal conditions; it offers a service of real value in the contribution of a pure food product, par- ticularly that which will help in the prevention of infant mortality. AGRICULTURE 151 POULTRY FARMING FOR WOMEN WILLIAM P. BROOKS DIRECTOR, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION The amount of capital required for a beginning in poultry farming is relatively small. Much of the work required is relatively light, and success depends in very large measure upon the possession of a quick eye and the capacity to note quickly the presence of faulty conditions affecting the health of the fowls. In these qualities, woman, with her long training in household duties, is perhaps likely to prove superior to the average man. Man is accustomed to attending to large affairs in a wholesale way; success in poultry farming demands attention to many details. In poultry farming therefore, superiority in the di- rections indicated is likely to place a woman on full equality in conducting poultry farming upon a small or moderate scale, under conditions such that she can attend to most of the work herself, with a man. Exceptional women can succeed also in carrying on the business on a large scale. Although prices vary, poultry farming must be regarded as, on the whole, one of the safest branches of agriculture. The consumptive demand for table fowls and eggs is large and con- stantly growing. In the State of Massachusetts, production of poultry products equals scarcely one-fifth of the consumption. There has been in the past little danger of a production so large as to carry the prices below a profitable limit; and in view of the constantly increasing cost of the competing products, such as beef, mutton, pork, and milk, it may be* regarded as reasonably certain that prices for poultry products in the future will be even better than in the past, and that the opportunities for profit, therefore, will be at least reasonably good. If a woman is to engage in any branch of poultry farming, I should regard it as quite important that she should so locate that she may use in the business a large area of land. This advice is based upon the fact that with wide areas, permitting relatively 152 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN free range during a considerable part of the year and thus avoid- ing the contamination of confined quarters with the attendant risk of disease and reduction of returns, success will be relatively easy. It is possible to succeed in poultry farming with the fowls in close confinement, but it is far easier to succeed where such confinement is unnecessary. A second important advantage con- nected with poultry farming upon relatively wide areas is the fact that it becomes possible to produce a considerable part of the food needed, and I should anticipate that such crops as would be chiefly needed for the production of such foods might be raised, even by a woman farmer, at a cost below that of purchased food. I am inclined to regard the production of table fowls, either broilers or roasters, and of eggs, as likely to be the most profitable branches of poultry farming in the hands of a woman. If a woman is to engage in any branch of poultry farming, I should advise her first, if possible, to work as an assistant upon a poultry farm. I should advise her, then, to take both a good correspondence course in poultry farming and a four or five weeks' course in one of the agricultural colleges. With such experience and training she should be able to carry on the business with relatively few mistakes; but I should advise always that she begin in rather a small way, increasing the business only as it is found to be successful and thoroughly satisfactory, and remem- bering always that the difficulties will tend to increase as the scale of operations is extended. BEE-KEEPING JAMES B. PAIGE PROFESSOK OF VETERINARY SCIENCE, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE One of the agricultural pursuits best adapted for women seems to be that of bee-keeping. The business can be made to yield a good money income. It also affords an interesting and fascinat- ing form of recreation under conditions favorable to the de- velopment and maintenance of health, at a time of year when an out-of-door life is a pleasure. AGRICULTURE 153 In Massachusetts bees require no attention from November 1 to March 20, provided they have been properly cared for during the summer and early fall. An apiary of 25 or 30 colonies would require nearly the entire time of an amateur from May 15 to August 1. Much of the preparatory work for spring and summer, such as the cleaning and painting of hives, filling of brood frames and sections, may be done during the spare time of the winter months. Apiculture in conjunction with some other allied farm opera- tion is carried on to better advantage than when made a sole occupation. It may with profit be combined with light market- gardening, floriculture, or poultry-keeping. With the last named it makes an ideal combination for women. Bees require the least care at the time when poultry need most, as in the early spring, when hatching operations are in progress, and in winter, when birds are confined in houses. Bees thrive in almost every locality in Massachusetts. They are in some instances kept with profit in the large cities. There are, however, some sections in which the honey-producing flora is too limited to insure a surplus of honey. To avoid such localities, a careful study of the flora should be made under the direction of an experienced bee-keeper. The art of handling bees is not difficult to acquire. Our ex- perience in the bee culture course at the college shows that women soon become as proficient as men in the manipulation of them. After a little practice in the manipulation of gentle bees one loses one's fear of them, and goes among them, opening hives, without a thought of being stung. A careful study of some one of the many standard works on bee-keeping, together with a little practice with a single full colony or an observation swarm, sup- plemented by a few days' experience with a practical apiarist, affords all the training needed to enable one to become sufficiently proficient to take entire charge of a small home apiary. A prod- uct of fifteen hundred pounds of first quality honey, in 1908, from the apiary of a New Hampshire woman bee-keeper, is evi- dence of the success that is possible in this line of agricultural work, when intelligently conducted and properly financed. 154 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN MARKET-GARDENING H. F. TOMPSON INSTRUCTOR IN MARKET-GARDENING, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Market-gardening is the business which has for its object the production of vegetables and small fruits for a near-by market. The work of the florist and market gardener closely approaches that of the manufacturer. The raw materials are seed, manure, fertilizer, water, sun, and air. The factory is the field or green- house, and the finished product may be a rose, a head of lettuce, or a bushel of tomatoes. The object is to produce so cheaply and so well that financial success may come to the rose or lettuce grower, florist, or market gardener. The fact that there are women making a financial success of vegetable-growing and forc- ing leaves no question as to the possibilities of the business for women. What kind of field it offers is the important question. In deciding this question, the fitness of women, as a class, de- mands first consideration. Long hours and much hard manual labor have become char- acteristic factors of the business of the small market gardener. The normal income has not usually been sufficient to maintain the non-laboring manager. As the size of the market garden has in- creased, however, and the many details and plans have demanded more attention, the time and strength of the manager have been needed for the planning end of the business. Now it is not unusual to find the manager of the large market garden at his office instead of at work in the field. But at the start all the managers of the large market gardens were managers of small market gardens, and their present position is the result of growth rather than of appointment. Normally this should be so, for the business founded upon successful experience is the successful business. If hard labor, long hours, and much experience are the essential factors that bring success to the market gardener, the "lure of the land'* toward this business is a false call to womenkind. AGRICULTURE 155 We can safely say, however, that while usually very important these factors are not always essential. Capital may sometimes offset experience, and the hard labor and long hours are the co- partners of experience. It is possible, and becoming more and more probable, that one may hire an experienced man to super- intend, while the general plan may be laid out and the work super- vised by the owner. Such a course requires capital, however, and its expediency may be questioned. The type of market-gardening that has been constantly in mind, while writing the above, is the general outdoor vegetable- gardening, where considerable amounts of a large variety of out- door vegetables are raised for wholesale market or store trade. There are modifications of this type and combinations with other branches of practical agriculture which might well prove pleasant and profitable to women. Before considering what these may be, there are two general classes of factors which need to be well in mind and carefully studied before one decides to go into this work. These may be classed as the personal and business factors. A short consideration of the personal factors will be worth while here. The business factors are not essential to our present con- sideration. The first and most important personal factor is what we may call, for want of a better name, a natural and deep-seated liking for the work. A temporary enthusiasm will in no way compen- sate for the love some people have for growing things and the work among them. In one case, when the work becomes hard, the interest departs: in the other the real liking heightens the work and only makes one more appreciative of the final results. The other qualities briefly mentioned are: second, knowledge of principles and methods of tillage and plant culture; third, ability to manage labor successfully; fourth, economy in management; and fifth, ability to do business, a sort of trading instinct. If one possesses the above qualities and can satisfy the requirements of the business factors, the chances for success are good. The reasons why the market-gardening business near a large centre, if conducted along the usual lines, would not be the best opportunity for women, have been sufficiently discussed above. There are, however, many opportunities for a special and select 156 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN trade, largely from house to house, where well-grown and well- packed vegetables, small fruits, and poultry products are welcome visitors. These places are more often found in the city than else- where, for it is here that the natural craving for such food is greatest and where the supply is lowest. The successful estab- lishment of this sort of business depends almost entirely upon the ability and enterprise of the manager. Another field, still neglected, is the small town where some of the products of the market garden are almost unknown, as lettuce, egg plant, salsify, and many other delicious and easily grown vegetables. Often too, in these same small towns or villages there is a demand for cut flowers and potted plants, supplied only by the occasional visit of the plant peddler or by city dealers. In the latter case the flowers or plants have to travel through many hands, this all adding to the expense and usually lessening the quality. The growing of vegetable plants for sale naturally unites with these two fields of work. The equipment for such a business would naturally include some "glass," a small greenhouse and some "frames." To do any such work as above indicated, a person needs not only a strong natural liking for the work, but thorough training. This can be partially obtained at the summer schools or winter courses now offered by most of the agricultural colleges. A part of the training should come through actual experience, and each individual must needs discover his or her own opportunity for this. Some capital is needed. A place must be rented or bought, tools, horses, forcing material, and so forth obtained. It would not be wise for a person having less than $2,000 to undertake any such proposition, and then very careful consideration and con- servative judgment are needed before one embarks on this new enterprise. The income depends almost entirely upon the individual, of course, within certain limits. It is seldom that one could lay away more than $1,000 from the year's earnings, and more often less than this, even when the business may be considered quite successful. The compensation from congenial surroundings and pleasing work must be part pay for those undertaking such work. AGRICULTURE 157 MARKET-GARDENING * PERSIS BARTHOLOMEW WESTBORO, MASSACHUSETTS To grow high-grade products demands training and experience. One must learn how to produce greater and better crops at the least possible cost; to this end one must study the soil and the plant. This knowledge can best be obtained from a four years' course in an agricultural college. But it is also necessary for a woman who is thinking of entering into market-gardening to have good business sense, to be a skilled manager and planner and a good seller. Education will not suffice to make her such; she must have personal experience. I am myself a novice at market-gardening, but in the two years since my graduation from the Massachusetts Agricultural Col- lege, my work of planning, planting, harvesting, and selling of farm vegetables, has been most enjoyable to me and somewhat of a success. I desired originally to take up floriculture, but that was too expensive, as glass houses were necessary. Poultry-rais- ing required too close figuring. Dairying, stock-raising, orchard- ing, were not advisable for a woman of small means. Market- garden crops and small fruits appealed to me as the most possible venture. Although heavy work is involved, all this may be avoided by hiring labor, exercising great care that not too much money is spent unnecessarily. One of the most common mistakes is going into farming on too large a scale before the business is learned. I rented a farm of 10 acres with the prospect of buying, and planted 3 acres with vegetables and small fruits, such as strawberries and currants. The 10 acres included some hay land and an orchard of 50 apple- trees, but these I did not pay any attention to the first year. I had a very limited amount to begin on, just $200. With * This article is published as an illustration of what young women are actually attempting to-day, with and without the help of male relatives. The experi- mental stage of the work here described is evident to both writer and reader. ED. 158 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN this I bought fertilizer, manure, seeds, and paid for the labor of ploughing, harrowing, and cultivating through the first season. All the harvesting and selling I did myself. But I have one great advantage, as I have my father working with me. My greatest difficulty was the selling of the vegetables. This I conquered the second summer. I sent a team into Worcester market once a week regularly, sometimes twice, on Tuesdays and Fridays. At first I took a stand on the square, and sold to peddlers; but when commission houses offered a good price for my produce, I let them have it, feeling it might be a gain in two ways. First, it was less trouble, and gave me as much money; and second, the commission houses would come to know me, and in that way would do better by me, and I could see my products in compari- son with those of larger growers. The products I raised last year, arranged in the order of their money-making value to me, were tomatoes, string beans, shell beans, squash, cabbage, lettuce (a specialty of mine), peas, straw- berries, and sweet corn. The first year I did not pay my expenses. The second year I bought a horse, a plough, cultivator, seeder, fertilizer, and seeds. This was last summer, and I may say that my farm has no debt. The coming summer I am planning to increase the number of acres of cultivation to five, and put labor, time, and money on improving the orchard. I look forward to a successful year. FLORICULTURE E. A. WHITE PROFESSOR OF FLORICULTURE, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Floriculture offers excellent opportunities for women, and there are several successfully engaged in the business in Massachusetts. There are three phases of the subject which should be considered : First. The woman as owner and manager of the floricultural establishment. Second. The woman as an employee. AGRICULTURE 159 Third. The woman as manager of a retail establishment or store. If the woman has a sufficient knowledge of the principles in- volved in plant-growing, has good executive ability, and a moder- ate amount of capital, there are good openings in the florist Busi- ness. Several have taken up the work with excellent results. My attention was recently called to an instance of this kind. A graduate of the musical course at Wellesley College failed in health, and feeling obliged to take up some remunerative work, built a small greenhouse in one of the suburban towns near Boston. She is now carrying on an excellent business in growing flowers and potted plants for local trade. Recently I have visited several greenhouses where the wife was attending to the ventilation of the houses and the general care of the crops, while the husband was employed in other work away from home. The best preparation a woman could get for work of this kind would be to take a short course in floriculture at some educa- tional institution, or to work for a time in some first-class estab- lishment where the special crops are grown in which she is espe- cially interested. In one year of this kind of work one could obtain a great deal of information, both valuable and practical. I doubt if there will ever be many desirable openings for women of the average class as employees in greenhouses. There are a few large rose and carnation establishments which employ women of foreign birth to disbud the carnations or pick up dead leaves from the rose-houses, but most owners and managers prefer to employ men. A few women, however, find employment at good wages in the packing and shipping rooms of wholesale establish- ments. A few women are also employed as stenographers in these establishments. It would seem as if the best openings for women were in retail stores. As a rule, customers in these stores prefer to deal with a woman clerk, and usually these clerks have excellent taste in the arrangement of flowers. Several large flower stores in Mas- sachusetts are owned by women, and these are successful finan- cially. Some capital is of course necessary if one is to open a store of this kind, for as in flower-growing the expense of equip- ment is considerable. The show windows must be large and 160 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN attractive, there must be abundant ice-box facilities, and the interior wall decoration should be pleasing. The perishable nat- ure of the product handled also necessitates considerable capital. SMALL-FRUIT GROWING F. C. SEARS PROFESSOR OF POMOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE It would seem to the writer that this is a line of outdoor work peculiarly adapted to women. There is no really heavy labor connected with any part of it, all that is required being deft- ness, skill in handling, and patience in attending to details, which are all qualities more likely to be possessed by women than by men. And if a woman has a love of outdoor work to start with, I see no reason whatever why she should not make a suc- cess in growing small fruits. As to the demand for such fruits, any one who has studied the local market in our American towns and villages cannot have overlooked the fact that they are usually very scantily supplied with all the different kinds of small fruits. Apparently, the nearer one gets to the source of supply, the more difficult it is to get good fruits of all kinds, but especially the small fruits. The town market is poorer than that of the city, and the village than that of the town. This means that there are almost numberless chances to make a good thing out of supplying this deficiency, and it is surprising how small a piece of land will return a good living, and something more, if handled properly. Accurate statistics are difficult to get, but 5,000 quarts per acre for strawberries and cur- rants, 3,000 for blackberries, and somewhat over 2,000 for red raspberries are reasonable yields. Prices vary greatly, of course, depending on whether one has a good local market or sends the fruit to some commission man. The expense of working a small- fruit plantation should not be over $125 to $150 per acre; and even if the product is wholesaled to the commission man, this would give a good margin of profit. AGRICULTURE 161 LANDSCAPE GARDENING BEATRIX JONES FELLOW OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS Within the last few years landscape gardening has been much talked of as an agreeable profession for women, and an increasing number of them have been studying and starting professional work. It is a profession which no woman should attempt who is not above, rather than below, the average of physical strength and endurance, as the work swings from one extreme to another, sometimes meaning eight hours or more office work, making plans, drawing up specifications, and draughting, and this con- tinued for several days, followed by the entire change which field work means. This not infrequently involves a week's continu- ous work, in which the average day, including time spent in travel- ling, is twelve hours or over. The engagements for field work must sometimes be made weeks ahead in the busy season, and must be kept irrespective of weather or bodily condition, for the reason that in such work the meeting must be carefully arranged beforehand, in order to be adjusted to the engagements of the client, the contractor, the engineer, and the landscape gardener. No one should attempt the profession who has not, by nature, a quality which corresponds to the musician's ear for music; that is, the power to perceive and assimilate the characteristics of landscape. In other words, no one can be a landscape gardener who has not an eye, any more than a musician can be made from a person who has no ear. This means the appreciation of the texture as well as the color of the landscape, the peculiar quality of each individual place and its adaptation to specific treatment; for it cannot be too strongly borne in mind that landscape gar- dening is the profession of a painter built on the substructure of that of an engineer. If, after consideration, a young woman decides that she wishes to become a landscape gardener, at least four years of study 162 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN should follow this determination. Proper training involves a study of the architectural orders, mechanical and free-hand drawing, some theoretical engineering, and the necessary mathematics and courses in designing. The Lowthorpe School at Groton, Mass.,. offers a two years' course at the cost of $100 a year for tuition and a minimum price of $40 a month for board and lodging. The time, however, seems short for adequate preparation. There is a course at Cornell University also open to women. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston offers a graduate course which includes work at the Arnold Arboretum. All these various methods of study should be supplemented by a journey to Europe, as essential to the landscape gardener as it is to the architect, and for the same reason, that it tends to form and educate the eye and train it to perceive what has been done with the opportunity given. At present the work of women in the profession consists almost entirely of what may be called the domestic branch. By this are meant the laying out and management of private places as opposed to public parks, land developments, or town planning. The landscape gardener's equipment must consist of a sufficient knowledge of engineering to read and comprehend a survey and to detect any errors, which means, of course, the capability to make a survey, however halting and laborious the effort. The drainage of land must be well understood, as well as the various methods of road construction, and one must be able to calculate the grading of cross-sections and the quantity of soil to be re- moved. In the architectural department the landscape gardener must know enough of construction to build proper retaining walls and terraces, balustrades, steps, summer houses, etc., suited to the architecture of the house and the general character of the country. The technique of the planting is one of the most important parts of the landscape gardener's education, and here the in- stinctive appreciation of the appropriate cannot be dispensed with. A wide familiarity with the growth, needs, and expression of the trees, shrubs, and herbs, is required to give the landscape artist the palette which is needed to paint the open-air picture. As landscape gardening is an exact profession, no mental slovenliness can be tolerated; specifications must be accurately made out r AGRICULTURE 163 plant names properly spelled, and the necessarily complicated ac- counts carefully kept. As the number of women in the profession is yearly increasing, the start becomes accordingly difficult, and three or four years or more are often needed before the young landscape gardener can count on clearing more than a few hundreds a year, usually less than $1,000; she will be very fortunate if, after ten years, her fees amount to more than $3,000. The profession is not for those who must count on a steady and increasing income, since it is peculiarly dependent on the prosperity of the country, and is almost entirely a profession of luxury. THE PROFESSION OF FORESTRY MIRA L. DOCK MEMBER OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE FORESTRY RESERVATION COMMISSION CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF WORK. Modern forestry, however its practice may vary in details in different lands, is based upon a few fundamental principles recognized throughout the world as of primary importance; viz., protection, management, silviculture, and utilization. Within little more than a century the practice of forestry has developed into a definite program, having among its direct objects: (a) The protection and production of timber upon all land not adapted to agriculture, or where the character of the country requires a permanent forest cover to prevent erosion. (6) The management of woodlands with a view to the per- petuation of the most valuable species, accompanied by a main- tenance or increase of soil fertility. Among the indirect results obtained are the economic gains of stream protection, soil con- servation, and good roads, and the hygienic benefits of the close proximity of large tracts of forest to villages, towns, and cities, affording opportunity for outings at little or no expense and for the establishment of innumerable forest resorts in the midst of romantic scenery. The preservation of beautiful places is 164 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN also assured in a sane system of forest management, through a combination of economic and patriotic motives. TRAINING IN FORESTRY. Training in forestry is a special combination of arduous field work with many of the branches common to schools of engineer- ing. The theoretical and practical training includes the higher mathematics; surveying (a great deal of surveying in certain schools); biological work, both field and laboratory; at least one foreign language, usually German; road-making; bridge- building; tree-felling; nursery work; forest-planting; improve- ment work in the forest; and other branches incidental to and im- portant in forestry. In the federal service heliographing is practised. In one very practical school the students take entire charge of their own horses; a forester must be a trained horse- man. CHARACTER, KIND, AND COST OF TRAINING. There are at present three main forms of forestry instruction in the United States (1910). 1. Graduate courses only, as at Yale and Harvard. The course at Yale is the oldest established, and may best serve as guide. It covers two years, and with the utmost economy can- not be taken under $600 per annum. There have been women students in attendance at the Summer School, Milford, Pa., for the purpose of dendrological and other work, but this course in full has not been taken except by men. 2. State colleges and universities with courses in, or schools of, forestry. Among the best known in the East is State College, Pa.; in the Central West are the University of Michigan, the Michigan Agricultural College, and the University of Minnesota; in the Far West, the University of Washington. At all land-grant colleges and universities tuition is free to actual students of the State, irrespective of sex. An entrance fee is required from non-residents. The length of course would de- pend upon the institution, and also upon whether only graduate work is taken, which requires in no case less than two years. AGRICULTURE 165 The cost would be that usual to such institutions, and would in- clude laboratory fees, board, lodging, and travelling expenses, the last three at the student's discretion. 3a. Private and special schools. At Biltmore, N.C., the most important and longest-established private school, the course covers one unbroken year, of which the larger portion consists of field work at different points, in different States, with several months in Germany. The cost would not be less than $1,100. Of this $300 is for tuition fees, and about $800 for travelling, board, and incidental expenses. 3b. Schools of special purpose, such as the Pennsylvania Forest Academy at Mont Alto, would not be considered in this paper, save for the number of applications for information. This school was established by act of legislature, to enable the Pennsyl- vania Department of Forestry to train, at State expense, a defi- nitely limited number of men for three years each, for the pur- pose of serving as foresters upon the large forest reservations of the State. Both mental and physical entrance examinations are required, and but ten men annually are admitted, who not only enter bonds for their period of instruction, but renew them upon graduation for three years more, at the close of which they are free to seek engagements elsewhere. As yet all have continued in the State Forest Service. NUMBER AND KINDS OF OPENINGS. 1. Forestry as a profession for women who are or who expect to be entirely self-supporting cannot now, perhaps can never be, recommended as a "gainful occupation." In its full practice it has always been, probably will remain, a man's occupation. Two duties alone render it inadvisable for women; viz., fire-fight- ing and the possession of police powers. Foresters of large re- sponsibility are required to understand the management of em- ployees as well as of woodlands; of camps, horses, and road- building; of lumbering, machinery, and saw-milling; in short, of all matters incidental to the woods-work of a practical forester, in addition to the office work of an indoor profession. The world over forestry is more largely a governmental than a private em- ployment. In this country most States employing foresters 166 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN require a course in some accredited school. In the federal ser- vice not only is a forestry course required, but also a civil service examination. Women engaged in other than clerical capacity in the federal service, as in microscopy and dendrology, must also pass a civil service examination, and are not eligible for field work. 2. Certain of the less developed branches of protection and silviculture offer fields for investigation and for original work for women, as in entomology, dendrology, mycology, and also in nursery work, which will ultimately open lines of remunerative occupation, but which at present cannot be advised as actual opportunities for those who are hampered by anxiety in regard to their immediate future. 3. All women who are land-owners or who intend to engage in landscape gardening, horticulture, or agriculture, are earnestly advised to take at least a year's work in branches of silviculture and protection. Until land-owners in large numbers learn and put into prac- tice some of the elementary principles of soil improvement, of woodland protection and management, we shall continue, in spite of some good examples conspicuous by their small number, to present the uninspiring spectacle of criminal indifference to fire, and of economic stupidity in the inevitable replacement of valuable by worthless species of trees in our present system of non-management of woodlands. CONCLUSION. In presenting an adverse recommendation of forestry as a profession for women, the writer has in view women who must either look first to remuneration for their work, or to employ- ment first with remuneration as a secondary object, and it cannot be stated too clearly that at present there seems to be no opening of either kind for women in forestry. There is a tendency on tne part of many uninformed persons to suggest to women of uncer- tain health and defective education, unable to cope with the re- quirements of any profession, that they "take up forestry, it would be so pleasant to live out of doors." Such advice partakes of the nature of an hallucination. AGRICULTURE 167 While the writer offers the above advice, she is well aware that at this very hour there may be some woman qualifying herself in all branches of forestry for its full practice who will display such initiative and such resourcefulness that her name will rank in forestral history along with those of Hartig, Bremontier, and Brandis. The exceptional woman has never required advice, and creates her own opportunity. V BUSINESS ADVERTISING FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A MANUFACTURER The popular prejudice against advertising in any and every phase is undoubtedly based upon its expression in the worst forms, which are at the same time the most striking. Millions of dollars are spent yearly on printer's ink, and since a very large proportion of this capital goes into words and colors that are not only shocking to the eye, but definitely harmful to the read- ing and seeing public, there is unquestionably a field for serious work in promoting sales along legitimate lines, in a way which is progressive and actually instructive to the buyer. That this field is practically unexplored by an intelligent, well-educated class of persons, I am certain. As a manufacturer of paints, I am thoroughly interested in all propositions for increasing my busi- ness. I am visited daily, almost hourly, by advertising agents who wish to "manage my campaign." I prefer to direct my own warfare, but I need able, intelligent assistants who will study my interests in presenting my paint to the public. Just here, I believe, a great opportunity is offered to the college-bred woman who does not care for teaching. In twelve years I have had just one application from a woman for this class of work. At least five hundred applications come every year for clerical work, even typewriting and duplicating. Perhaps I can best explain the nature of this advertising, the nec- essary qualifications, and the benefit to be gained, by giving a brief sketch of the work of my single applicant, who, by the way, was the subject of adverse circumstances and hardly a fair example. Miss was a young woman about twenty-seven, of only average intelligence and without a decided bent in any direction. 168 BUSINESS 169 She was in ill-health and needed something to do, anything would answer. I decided to try her in the sales department of my white lead factory, and gave her a certain amount of adver- tising. I explained to her the three classes of customers with whom she must deal, house painters, dealers, and consumers, covering every social class from the lowest to the highest. It was her duty to interest these people in any way she might choose. Her first step was to go into my factory and study her product. An enthusiastic student of chemistry, she found the analyses a delight. She then read all she could find on the practical side of the paint question. Her next move was to write letters to the painters on her trade list. She explained the merits of her process of grinding white lead, the value of inert pigments in resisting chemical action. Her painters did not respond except occasionally to ask whether this white lead could be thinned with fish oil without spoiling a job and whether she had anything cheaper to offer. These first replies put her in touch with her customers, and from that time the process of development was interesting. The whole scheme was reduced to a psychological basis in which she studied her different types, property owners, painters, dealers, preparing the reading matter and colors which would appeal to each. It was her privilege to place orders for such circular matter and color cards as she wished, choosing paper stock, colors of ink, styles of type, etc., arranging the chips on color cards according to her own taste. She composed all text and directed her of- fice corps as to the class of trade which should receive each form. The number and nature of replies determined the value of her work, and by quickly disclosing any flaws furnished the only training necessary to enable her to continue her work with in- creasing success. By following her own schemes in a thoroughly systematic way, she made herself valuable to me. At her own suggestion she started with a salary of $7 a week, giving only a portion of her time. In less than three years she has advanced to $20. She refused a further increase, preferring less work. In a general way, I might say that this class of work, if efficient, demands a generous remuneration for the time and energy ex- 170 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN pended. The manufacturer becomes more dependent upon his advertising agent than upon his salesmen. In any line he can well afford to pay 10 per cent, of the business produced. The majority allow from 12^/2 to 15 per cent. A salary of $1,000 is therefore due for every $8,000 created. Advertising agencies pay salaries ranging from $25 a week up for classified work, such as designing, drawing, composing, but the proprietors of these agencies reap large profits, which must be paid either by the manufacturer or by his customer. Granted that conviction in the mind of the seller plays an im- portant part in the sale of a product and that a thorough knowl- edge of the product is an advantage to the advertiser, it stands to reason that my own agent can serve me better than the man who is promoting paint, wall paper, soap, breakfast foods, shoe polish, motor cars, and a score of other commodities at the same time. Moreover, the agency never sees the direct results of its work and cannot maintain an equal interest with the one directly re- sponsible. That I am voicing the opinion of many manufacturers, I know from personal conversation. My friend, Mr. W., of the Varnish Works, has been looking in vain for a clever young woman who can assume the responsibility of his sales department. The small State of Connecticut has 2,023 manufacturing con- cerns. After examining the list, I am satisfied that 50 per cent, of these concerns are in a position to employ an advertising manager. This would furnish positions for more than 1,000 in a single State. If college women would undertake the work, I believe the benefit to business and to the buying public would be a revelation. ADVERTISING FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF AN ADVERTISING MANAGER For over five years I have been in charge of the advertising of a large manufacturing company. I undertook the work with- out previous experience and with no special training for it. The circumstances leading to it were as follows: I was a high-school teacher for ten years, and during the last BUSINESS 171 year of my teaching was asked by a friend, a wholesale manu- facturer and jobber who was much interested in advertising and a firm believer in it, to get out for him a quarterly trade paper. My work on the paper under his tutelage was my only training for the profession. As he is a man of keen advertising sense, a relentless critic, the school was a good one. When the company now employing me lost their advertising man, my tutor, without my knowledge, interested them in me through an article I had written for his paper. When the sub- ject was first broached, I refused to consider it. I enjoyed teach- ing, and was loath to give up the leisure it afforded for the pecu- niary advantages of a business life. Besides, I had very grave doubts as to my ability to fill the position. My objections finally gave way, and I agreed to go, my work to be the writing of their catalogues and booklets, the publicity advertising being taken care of, at that time, by an outside agent. This latter arrangement did not prove altogether satisfactory, however, and it was not very long before I found myself in charge of that also. It was simply a case of working into the position, a thing that any one with sufficient intelligence, will, tact, and knowledge of people and things, could do. To be sure, I had had several years of experience in business before I began to teach, so that I already had some knowledge of salesmanship and business principles. I was fortunately familiar, too, as a result of my experience in teaching, with some of the apparatus made by the company, and was able, without much difficulty, to write up many of their products. Yet there was much, very much to learn, and the end is not yet. The advertising field is a comparatively new one for women, and offers extraordinary opportunities to one able to grasp them. There are a number of women who have been remarkably suc- cessful. All of them have, I believe, gained their experience working up from humbler positions, which enabled them to get a grasp of the business in its various details. General principles of advertising can be learned from books, and there are several good advertising text-books, but each and every business to which one would seek to apply the principles must be made the subject of exhaustive study. The woman who succeeds must 172 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN learn the business and its selling problems, and must seek their solution. She must study the buying public, and know how to make her appeal to them. She must have all the numberless ways of making this appeal, which will necessitate a knowledge of printing and paper and processes of engraving and the thou- sand and one ways of making display. She must know about the advertising mediums and their circulation and their readers. In short, she must know something of everything, and well-nigh everything about the particular things she is to exploit. Adver- tising is salesmanship,* and really covers everything done to sell goods, including the sign over the door, stationery, labels, boxes, no less than catalogues, booklets, circulars, and space in maga- zines, papers, and programs. Its scope is almost unlimited. To one who has the power to become a success the rewards may be great. The college woman who would take up this work will find that *The following extract from a letter written by an advertising agency in Massa- chusetts bears out the above statement: "Success in any line of advertising endeavor, outside of the mere office routine of stenography and book-keeping, depends almost entirely upon the worker's appreciation of the principles underlying the sale of merchandise. Mere clever writing will never make a man or woman a success in the advertising world, either as regards the advertising of a retail store or in connection with work in the office of a manufacturing plant or advertising agency, where the work is really the development of a sales-producing plan. " Personally, I know of few women successful along these lines, although many are employed in the routine work of advertising offices. I know of several women in New York apparently very successful in their advertising work, but I believe that the average woman will not succeed unless her training has been such as to instill in her mind a thorough comprehension of the commercial purpose of ad- vertising. " I should say that a writer of good advertising copy, in an advertising agency in New York, Boston, or Chicago, if she was competent to put this selling force into her work, would command from $25 a week up. "Many women are making a success in the designing of advertising illustrations, especially for engraving houses that make a specialty of illustrations of garments for women's wear. Advertising illustrating is not the easiest thing in the world, but I believe that in it lies the best field for a woman's endeavor in the advertis- ing business. If she has the ability to grasp the selling idea that the advertising manager or agent desires expressed in the illustration or design, the rest is a matter of perfecting herself, preferably of course with an art school course, as an artist or designer." See page 267. ED. BUSINESS 173 it is a difficult thing to get started in. Unless one has exceptional ability or can make a spectacular play at the outset to focus attention, it will be necessary to serve an apprenticeship, long or short according to circumstances, and the salary at the beginning is quite apt to be meagre. She will be in a position where she is brought into direct competition with men, and they will have many advantages over her. If I were starting out now to take up this work, I should en- deavor to get a position with an advertising agency or in the ad- vertising department of a large business. There I should hope to gain the experience that would enable me to take charge of the advertising of a small business where I might be able to make good. COLLEGE GIRLS IN DEPARTMENT STORES GERTRUDE L. MARVIN WELLESLEY FELLOW, RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION The organization of responsibility in a large dry -goods store may be classified under four general headings: 1. Buying; 2. Store Management; 3. Advertising; 4. Records. A general manager or merchandise man, his assistant, a corps of buyers trained by years of store experience, and their assistants attend to the buying. The responsibility of these experts is extensive. They must select the goods early for their especial department, buying shrewdly and economically, gauging with almost prophetic foresight which styles will take with the public, and in what quantity to order. The goods ordered, their responsibility has only begun, for now they must sell their stock. They must, in consultation with the window trimmer, assemble the goods which shall make an effective display both in artistic effect and money values. ( The organization of the department, too, falls to them, the personnel of the sales force, whether there shall be a large number of in- experienced young girls at the minimum salary or a smaller number of more experienced and capable women, commanding 174 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN several more dollars per week.) The arrangement, display, and convenient storing of goods, the appearance and atmosphere of the department, all these things are under the direct control of the buyers. Thus the buyer is practically an independent merchant. He is charged by the firm for floor space, heat, light, elevator service, and salaries of salesgirls, as well as cost of all goods bought. His receipts must cover these expenses with the margin of profit demanded by the firm. He has the anxiety and responsibility of the small merchant who realizes that a couple of rainy Mondays or a late spring and poor trade will mean that he must go under. Usually a member of the firm or some highly paid superintend- ent is store manager, and he himself, or, in the largest firms, one of his subordinates, is responsible for the care of the property. This housekeeper-on-a-large-scale supervises the purchasing of all equipment, such as show-cases and office fixtures, plans and directs improvements and enlargements, and is responsible through his subordinates for the marshalling and control of the corps of scrub-women, window-cleaners, elevator boys, engineers, porters, and the like. Cleanliness, comfortable heating and lighting, adequate elevator service, convenient methods of getting about the store, are some of his responsibilities. He is also charged with the protection of the store against shop-lifters. The working force is supplied by the superintendent of em- ployees, who engages every employee in the house, except his superiors. His office is likely to be on the first floor, the very centre of activities. Here, especially just before the big sales, one can usually see a long, straggling line of applicants for lower- grade positions. It is the duty of the superintendent or of his subordinates to recognize in this unsorted, unlabelled mass of humanity the good material, to sift it out, and with a clear eye to discern the individual possibilities as each applicant files into the little sanctum. The superintendent who can recognize the square pegs and fit them into the square holes, putting the round pegs into the round holes with equal skill, contributes in large measure to the success of the store. This must be done by wise transfers and promotion, as well as by judicious selection in the first place. An efficient sales force is a powerful instrument, BUSINESS 175 and if a girl who is making a failure of the glove counter can be transferred to successful work at the men's shirt counter or up in the book department, each with its different classes of patrons and varying demands on the clerk, it is a triumph for the super- intendent and so much added to the efficiency of the force7 The discipline of the entire force is in charge of this superin- tendent, but he delegates it to officials in the various departments, who are thus responsible to him for the discipline of the porters, cleaners, accountants, and the like, though they are independent of him in other respects. The sales force, for instance, is di- rectly in charge of the floor manager, or "floor- walker." The average shopper may look upon the tall gentleman in a frock coat as a guide stationed in the aisles for her convenience, but he is much more than that. The discipline of the sales force, their neatness of appearance, their quiet behavior, and the pleasing atmosphere of alert, interested attention to the customer's wants, which one finds in many stores, are responsibilities of the floor- walkers. Besides, they must exercise watchfulness and judgment in maintaining the elaborate system that holds any large store together, sign return checks and exchange goods checks. They must recognize credit customers who have forgotten their coin of identification, and settle any difficulty that may arise between shopper and salesgirl. The floor- walker needs intelligence, dig- nity of bearing, and personality, not only for the control of the sales force, his responsibility to the superintendent of employees, but also for manipulation of system and for dealing with the public. A branch of the work closely allied to the actual selling, and bearing the same relation to the superintendent of employees and buyers, is the alteration department. It has advanced rapidly in importance with the increasing popularity and perfect- ing of ready-made garments. One store, with a total sales force of 600 to 700, employs a corps of about 60 fitters and pressers, which runs up to 80 when, in the busy season, 100 to 120 finished suits are turned out per day. There is most intricate detail and system to be kept working smoothly. Extra fitters must be ready at a moment's notice all day long, as the salesgirls tele- phone up that a sale is made and they need a fitter at once. 176 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Then the complicated schedule of basted fittings, second fittings, and final fittings must be made to meet the customer's con- venience and to dovetail into a calendar already crowded for days ahead. The work must be pushed through. In the tense atmosphere of whirring machines and weary nerves, the head of the workroom must stand a firm, dominating influence, hold- ing the moods of the workers and the speed at which they operate under her control, winning their respect and trust, so that, when the need comes and the rush is keenest, she can encourage them to their highest capacity instead of having them at the crucial moment strike, sullen and tearful, on her hands. A work which is closely allied to all these branches, but espe- cially to that of the superintendent of employees, is primarily social and educational. In only one of our stores is there a welfare department, but in another a saleswoman with years of experience and a wide acquaintance among the employees is rec- ognized by the firm as leader in welfare activities. The essen- tial quality for such work is a broad sense of justice, which can see both sides of a situation or of a misunderstanding, and deal with them fairly, for the welfare manager must be an interpreter, an adjuster. She must win the confidence and respect of both sides, and then represent them to each other, justifying the em- ployees to the firm and the firm to the employees, using her in- fluence on either side when she sees injustice or misunderstanding. Further than that, she has an opportunity for knowing the em- ployees individually, for befriending and advising them, which, combined with a knowledge of store conditions, makes her of real social value. The goods bought and displayed and the sales force organized and standing ready to sell it, there comes next a most important element in mercantile success, getting the public to come and buy. Modern advertising for a large firm may be subdivided into newspaper advertising, store decoration, and window trimming. The newspaper end includes writing original, readable advertise- ments, sketching figures and decorative designs, selecting the desirable papers and making contracts with them, deciding when to take a full page and when a half-column. Store decoration BUSINESS 177 involves featuring the sales, which are continually being held on various pretexts, anniversary sale, stock-taking sale, mid- summer sale, mid-month sale, and so on. Finally there is the window trimjning, which is constantly developing as a fine art. First, it is necessary to study the class of patrons to whom the store caters, and decide whether a gaudy or a more artistic dis- play will make an appeal, whether an array of opera gowns and wraps or a window full of modest $3.50 and $5 wash gowns machine-made dresses will actually bring more customers into the store. The general scheme decided, there remains the as- sembling and arranging of the goods; and here, they say, is where the art lies, for on being able to see the window vividly in his mind's eye, and pick out from the heterogeneous mass of stock just the tones and shapes and styles which are going to blend into an effective unified whole, on this the entire success of the win- dow depends. The direct service to the public, of buying, selling, and adver- tising being organized, there still remains a large department of work. High above the street in these stores, away from the noise and confusion of the lower floors, the public scarcely conscious of their existence, are scores of girls who form one of the most vital parts of this huge machinery, the auditing and statistical forces. In one department they check up every sale slip of each salesgirl every day and credit her name in the records with the total amount. Another department handles the enormous mail from credit accounts, adding to the customers' bills from day to day on their billing-machines, sending out bills, receipts, and duns, according to carefully planned system. Here are the departments which keep the stock books, recording what stock comes in and is given out to the various departments; here all the invoices and bills of lading must be checked and listed, all the cashiers' lists verified, and the money turned in audited each day; all the time cards of the hundreds of employees, on which they stamp by an automatic device the hour and minute of arriving and leaving, must be inspected, and the pay envelopes made out accordingly, with deductions for lateness and absence. All this work, planned by experts, is carried out by a large force of young, untrained girls, who, living at home, are able to give their time 178 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN for the very low salaries, $3 to $5, offered in these departments. Positions as heads of these departments are difficult, because, as one superintendent said, it is no sinecure to take such material and manipulate it into an efficient, well-organized body, which turns out rapidly and at the same time accurately the immense volume of monotonous work. Such is the general scheme of organization in a large store. It will be seen that the tendency is to careful analysis and subdi- vision of the work, and then specialization on that line. As these stores enlarge in scope and size, as department after department is added, and building after building is annexed, the amount of responsibility to be delegated grows and the number of executive positions open to capable men and women increases. Propor- tionally to the rank and file, there are a large number of leader- ship positions. In one store, for instance, there is one executive to every ten in the rank and file, but this is an unusually high percentage. The question which especially interests us is how much this leadership is being won by women, how much more women could win. In the 6 stores investigated they are actually hold- ing positions in 3 of the 4 main divisions of responsibility. But the variety of positions so held is limited. For instance, there 'xre more women buying than in all the other lines put to- gether: 67 per cent, of the responsible positions held by women are held by buyers. Women have a natural advantage for this kind of work in their instinctive sense of style, color, value, and good form. Furthermore, the bulk of department store mer- chandise is made for women and bought by women, who not only do their own shopping, but the household purchasing as well. Naturally, a woman understands the habits of thought, tendencies, and especially the vulnerable points of her own sex, better than a man, and ought to be able to cater to their wants more successfully. More than this, she has a temperamental resourcefulness in devising little expedients and improvements, which men may gain only by much effort, if at all. Heretofore the successful man buyer has often been the one who has tactfully secured the co-operation of his saleswomen, consulting with them, and using their experience and instinctive sense to recognize "good BUSINESS 179 styles," the popular fancies, desires, and prejudices, especially of women customers. The women who have developed, in addition to their hereditary capacity for knowing "good styles," that com- bination of qualities which they mysteriously call "trading in- stinct," have won an advantage over men buyers, and are holding the important positions to-day. This trading instinct is not haggling, but knowledge of how and where to get, at lowest prices and in the best quality, the things it has been decided the public is going to want. It is establishing a reputation among wholesale travelling men for knowing one's line, for meaning what one says, and for straightforward business dealings. It is shrewdness in watching the market and discerning tendencies in advance, both as they affect the public pocket and the expenses of one's own line of business. In the management of the store very few women are holding positions as floor managers, 4 out of a total of 101 in the six stores. A conflict of opinion as to woman's usefulness here is evident. There is said to be prejudice on the part of the sales force against recognizing the authority of a woman as discipli- narian and executive over them. There is also the prejudice of the public, especially women shoppers, against accepting the deci- sions of a woman. It is said that, when there is any trouble, the shoppers want a man to come and straighten it out. One super- intendent has tried women as floor managers, and says that he is convinced that they are not equal to the position. On the other hand, in a store in the same block the superintendent of employees points to a woman floor manager in one of the busiest depart- ments, and says that she is as efficient as any man in the house. Among the heads of workrooms in these stores, four are women, but here, again, there is a conflict of opinion as to woman's fitness. Although scattered through 3 of the divisions of responsibil- ity, it will be observed that women are actually holding only 4 different kinds of positions, and a comparatively small num- ber at that. It is a gratifying thought that these 37 women are giving satisfaction and have proved their adequacy to posi- tions which a few years ago would have been considered quite beyond their reach. When we come to the question of how much more responsi- 180 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN bility women are capable of bearing than they have already as- sumed, the situation is complicated by the conflicting opinions of the superintendents of employees interviewed. In store man- agement, women are found only as floor superintendents and heads of alteration departments. They do not have charge of the plant, a duty which is essentially housekeeping on a large scale. It requires the manipulation of unskilled workers, close attention to detail, keen observation of every corner, and the perpetual struggle against dirt for which the executive woman housekeeper in the large hotels draws so high a salary. Surely, women ought to be able to step into this field and take the responsibility with an assurance bred of the usage of generations as keeper of the keys. No one of the superintendents of employees thought that a woman could fill his position. All felt that it required a knowl- edge of human nature and ability to size people up, a dignity and authority of presence which women lack. Yet one superintendent told of a store in another city where he was once employed as floor manager in which the unusually efficient superintendent of employees was a woman. There as her subordinate he recog- nized her authority and admitted her great business capacity, yet he justifies his opinion that women are inadequate for such a position by saying that he considers her a very rare woman, and "there practically are no more like her!" It is curious that no women are in the advertising department, though individual women have made fortunes by their unique and clever ideas in this line. On consideration is there not an analogy between advertising and buying? Both require strong individuality, sense of form, good taste, and the power of divin- ing what will appeal to the public, the one in a flash perhaps, and the other by careful planning. Would not the same qualities which make women such successful buyers come into play in advertising? And yet, with the exception of one girl who sketches figures for newspaper cuts under direction, there are no women in the advertising departments of the six stores. It will be observed that in the following table one or more em- ployers assert that women are incapable of holding positions at that very time held by women in other stores. BUSINESS 181 Opinions given in 6 stores as to capacity of women for holding responsible positions. The numerals signify the number of stores. il Jl - "s I B II g ^ M ^ a E E tjfl g ad T -fair_^int^>f_ view; no jjreadth of mental ability to grasp a principle or policyjn the large, apply it and carry ifToTwarTlndependentlyy lack of confidence on the part of the employer^ making it _ difficult for her jo attain responsible sub- ojrb^n^e_OsryxMi3, which would give her the requisite experi- ence and judgment; physical incapacity for the wearing strain of every-day routine and the perpetual responsibility of such posi- tions; lack of power to carry responsibility, to throw off at the end of the day all thought of care and worry and forget it until the next day's work begins. These opinions are interesting, and we must recognize a certain 182 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN amount of truth in them, and yet each of those thirty-seven women who are holding positions is disproving some of the lacks which are here claimed for women in general. Moreover, the fact that opinions vary so widely as to the capacity of women for holding any responsibility such as buyer, would indicate that these negative opinions are in some part due to prejudice and con- servatism, and that the personal equation enters very largely into the superintendents' decisions. Although the opening wedge has been made into this field and although its possibilities are steadily increasing as woman's ability proves itself, beating down prejudice and opposition, there must still remain in many minds questions as to the desira- bility of such employment for a life-work. The length of train- ing required and the conditions of labor during what may be called the apprenticeship, should influence our opinion of department stores as an opportunity for college women. Various positions are open to women at the start, depending on the kind of position for which they aim. For heads of the statis- tical and record departments, no matter what technical training and facility with figures they may have, actual experience in the various sorts of clerical work is essential as giving a close knowl- edge of conditions and methods of work. For floor managers, buyers, and executives in control of the store and employees, experience in selling is most necessary. By direct contact with the public and in handling stock, by personally knowing what a sales- person can or cannot achieve, they attain an authority in their position and a surety of control which nothing else quite gives. The general conditions of work are a nine-hour day, with two weeks' paid vacation and Saturday afternoons for the three summer months. The salaries range from $6 up to $10 or $12. In some stores, commissions are paid on all sales over a specified amount, and a few exceptionally clever salesgirls are able to make $20 and $25 a week, running as high as $45 during the Christmas week or in the big bargain sales. The length of experience necessary for promotion varies from six months to several years. The steps of promotion are gradual. For a salesgirl the first step up would be as head of stock. This involves superintending the girls at her counter, and being re- BUSINESS 183 sponsible for condition of the stock on her shelves, seeing that it is neatly put away at night and that it is attractively displayed in the show-cases and on the shelves. She must also keep close count of stock, and report to her buyer all articles that are running low^~ The careful and efficient head of stock is usually promoted to assistant buyer when there is a vacancy, and there she may stay indefi- nitely until old age overtakes her, unless she manifests individual ability to go ahead and take responsibility on her own initiative. The cases of 23 women executives interviewed are interesting and suggestive. We find that every one had worked her way up, apparently without any pull, through sheer effort and in- dividual ability. Over half began to work as cash or bundle girls at sixteen years of age or under. Only 11 of these women went to high school, and of the other 12, 2 did not finish grammar school. In spite of their extreme youth those who began as cash-girls were almost at once promoted to selling, but the next interval before promotion to head of stock or assistant buyer varied from six months to ten years. In the matter of training, 10 began to work in some shop either out in the coun- try or in a small town, where they received the close supervision of the head men, and where they also had the advantage of taking part in the running of a store small enough to permit them to understand and to perceive the necessities of the business. These women, rising to their present important positions, many of them, without the advantages of a thorough education, must mani- festly be women of unusual ability of genius in their line. They suggest a question as to whether many women of lesser talent could not, with the advantage of better early training and education, win the high ' positions beside these few pioneers. College has not yet received general recognition as a practical, helpful training for business life. For this reason the firms are unwilling to make any better offer to a young college graduate than to any other girl. She must realize that, as far as business experience goes, she has merely lost the four years spent in col- lege which another girl will have spent in the store, learning the system, and accustoming herself to business methods, punctuality, accuracy, etc., and that, therefore, the non-college girl is actually four years ahead of her. It is for the college girl to prove the value 184 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN of her college investment by going in four years late, but with the added training and mental acumen which shall enable her to catch up and surpass in the first decade. Not every college girl can do this, however, any more than all non-college girls can. It is not a matter of college or non-college: it seems to be a ques- tion of individual energy and enthusiasm. But all other things being equal, given a college graduate with a practical head and ready understanding, with no tendency to conceit over her four academic years, and it does seem that she ought to prove the value of her training in logical thinking, in fair-mindedness in dealing with people, and that in reasonably few years. As for the life, once success is attained, it has decided attrac- tions. In the matter of salaries it is difficult to get information, as firms are very reluctant to quote salaries paid : Head-buyer Buyer Head advertiser Window trimmer, decorator, etc. Head office forces Head clerical departments. Floor manager Head workrooms Store A A B E F A B C E F A B B C E A C E A B C E A C Minimum $5,000 1,820 2,000 5,000 average 1,500 2,000 2,000 1,500 2,600 1,500 1,300 780 2,000 over 3,000 5,000 936 1,500 780 1,040 1,040 780 780 1,040 Maximum $50,000 6,500 3,500 2,500 15,000 10,000 10,000 2,600 2,600 1,800 2,000 2,600 1,820 1,300 1,300 15,600 1,300 BUSINESS 185 The writer knows personally of two buyers in Boston, one of whom receives $4,000 salary and an annual trip to Europe, the other over $6,500. From these figures it is fair to conclude that women are receiving high salaries as buyers. It has, however, been impossible to get data showing whether women are paid lower salaries or the same as men for the same work, because every buyer has his own individual value, and it is that which regulates his salary rather than the trade or firm or department for which he happens to be buying. In this connection it is interest- ing to note that, of the twenty-one women interviewed, all were entirely self-supporting, and all but two were supporting at least one other. And yet employers, when charged with holding women down to lower wages than they give men for the same work, offer the excuse that the men have families to support, while the women have only themselves. The different departments demand different duties of their heads, but all involve meeting successful and interesting people on an equal footing, and, for the buyer, frequent trips to New York, if not to Europe, and entire independence as to conditions of work, they may be as punctilious in observance of store hours or as regardless as they desire, provided they get the results. Coupled with these more showy attractions is a graver, more serious call to the work, the opportunity for social effort among the employees, unorganized and scattered, many of them under- paid, quite as effectual constructive social activity as in many more recognized forms of benevolent work. Women are at present holding 71 per cent, of the positions in the rank and file in these six department stores, but of the respon- sible and executive only 16 per cent. A few years ago it was prob- ably the same large proportion of subordinate and per cent, of executives. One of our Boston buyers said she was one of Wana- maker's first women buyers, and was actually the first woman to cross the ocean for him, which indicates how recent is this giving women the responsibility. Since, then, women have broken into these lines so recently and have made, relatively speaking, such success of it, we can certainly feel, without making any concrete prophecies for the future, that her development in these lines is progressing rapidly and surely. 186 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN BUYING FOR COLLEGE WOMEN RALPH P. ALBERTSON SUPEBINTENDENT OF EMPLOYEES, WlLLIAM FlLENE's SON8 COMPANY The specialization of work in the retail dry-goods business has created some positions which carry with them high salaries, and which, it has been discovered, can be filled as well by women as by men, if not better. The most highly paid line of work that is open to any considerable number of women is buying. This requires knowledge of merchandise, knowledge of the demand, which is gained only by department store experience, knowledge of the market and the sources of supply, taste, executive ability, and courage tempered with judgment. The number of women doing this work is rapidly increasing. Most of them have had only a grammar school education. Their salaries go above $10,000 in some instances, while $4,000 or $5,000 is not at all unusual. The apprenticeship, however, is of such a nature that the posi- tion of buyer is ordinarily unattractive to a college woman. To become thoroughly familiar with the goods and the store life and methods, it is necessary for her to have such an experience in handling and manipulating the stock and the actual selling of it to customers as can be obtained only through the humbler posi- tions. So little experimenting has been done with college women in this line that it is difficult to say just how long this apprentice- ship must be. I have stated two years as a maximum length of time which a college woman must spend as a saleswoman before she can be given a position as assistant buyer. In many cases this doubtless can be reduced to one year; in one case we reduced it to three months; in another case a woman who had had some business experience in other lines since leaving college was made an assistant buyer without any apprenticeship in our business. As to the natural qualifications, the following are essential : 1. A strong body. 2. Capacity for hard work. BUSINESS 187 3. A high degree of mental energy. 4. Taste. 5. Executive qualities; i.e., initiative, concentration, progres- siveness, responsibility. While I have used the word "essential" above, it is true that some women not particularly strong in some of these qualifications have made a success of this work. The demand for good buyers is great. I doubt if there is another field in which the salaries are anything like as good as they are in this, where there are so many opportunities and where employers have so much difficulty in supplying their needs. The training for buyership has hitherto been almost altogether practical ; that is, it has been a matter of experience. Buyers have not been intentionally trained at all. In fact, they have been created by the natural and more or less accidental selection of the "likeliest" saleswomen, who are given responsibilities and buying opportunities as a "trying-out." This process is not satisfactory to the more intelligent and far-sighted men in the business, and therefore they have begun to discover and establish a theory of buying, and to reach out after college-bred people. It is safe to assume, therefore, that in a very short time a number of de- partment stores will be systematically teaching and training candidates for buyerships by a new method, a combination of theory and practice. The chief obstacle that stands in the way of the entrance of college women upon this line of work is the necessarily small pay in beginning. They are worth to the department store at the commencement only what they can earn in competition with other saleswomen, and they can seldom earn as much at the start as the ordinary saleswoman who is experienced in the business. When, therefore, they are offered $10 per week or less, to begin with, they face an immediate financial sacrifice, as they can earn more ordinarily in other lines. The nature of this comparison changes at once, however, as the openings for advancement in the department store are greater and more quickly reached than in almost any other field. It is necessary for the college woman in taking this step to be willing to make some investment in her own future, just as the managers of department stores are 188 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN discovering that it is necessary for them to make some investment in college women in order to develop the class of buyers that are needed. On the whole, I should say that only a small percentage of college women are naturally adapted to successful department store work, but for those who are this work offers in opportunity and salary very great inducements. The small salary at the start is so overwhelmingly offset by the larger salary that follows that it should never be permitted to stand in the way, and, now that institutions are offering definite training for buyerships, there ought to be an enthusiastic response to the offer on the part of a large number of college women who wish to be inde- pendent, and who wish to be in a slight measure pioneers. BANKING AND BANK WORK FOR WOMEN ELEANOR B. RICHARDSON WITH THE SECOND NATIONAL BANE OP SAGINAW, MICHIGAN That women not only make successful bank clerks, but are able to fill official positions to equal advantage, is evidenced by the large number of women bank presidents, cashiers, and as- sistant cashiers that are listed in the banking directories. In fact, there are several banks in the United States managed and conducted entirely by women, and it is noticeable that their state- ments compare favorably with those of their competitors. There are many reasons why women are especially well qualified to hold positions with financial institutions, one of which probably is that the work in such places consists of a mass of detail work, and, if we are to believe a certain self-appointed masculine au- thority, the feminine brain surpasses the masculine only when applied to such duties. A well-known woman banker (cashier of a large national bank in the West) declares that women make excellent bankers because of their intuitive powers, which enable them to judge conditions and men accurately and quickly. Add to this qualification another well-known characteristic of the BUSINESS 189* feminine nature, tact, combined with an innate strength of character that makes a woman, in the majority of cases, proof against a temptation to be dishonest, and you have some of the general reasons for the success attained by women in the field of banking. But a girl, either with or without a college course, must not expect to enter a bank and straightway become an official. For, as every banker will tell you, there is no royal road to success here any more than in any other line of work, and almost invariably one must begin at the bottom and climb up very slowly. To a young woman desirous of obtaining a position in a bank a knowledge of stenography is a great help, as is also an acquaintance with one or more foreign languages, because, as a rule, the place most frequently open to women is that of stenographer. Once a member of the clerical force of a bank, however, there are a number of other capacities in which women are admirably fitted to serve, as tellers, book-keepers, draft clerks, and managers of various general departments. Chief among such positions is that of manager of a woman's department. Such a position is prob- ably the pleasantest that a woman can hold, but it is no sinecure, as the duties involved necessitate considerable knowledge not only of finance, but of human nature. Here one must meet and advise the feminine customers of the bank on all manner of topics, and the utmost degree of tact is required to handle these cus- tomers happily. The following outline of a day's duties per- formed by one woman in such a position is quoted from a booklet called "The Bank Lady," issued by a large trust company in the North-west, which evidently considers "The Bank Lady" one of its most valuable assets: "Before this task was finished, a woman who had just fallen heir to a large sum through the settlement of an estate was waiting for a patient tutoring about financial mysteries such as no mere man could give, as he seems quite incapable of understanding the average woman's views of business. The different advantages and rates of interest of bonds, mortgages, special certificates, and other things, were explained before the customer was passed on to the higher officials for final decision. "When banking hours were done, there was an invalid patron. 190 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN to visit with information about her affairs. That call was followed by an appointment with a wealthy stranger who wished to have a money talk with the Bank Lady. . . . Months and years of days like this have marvellously trained the Bank Lady's brain and heart. Her knowledge, patience, tact, and sympathy are potent to do away with difficulties big and little. While money troubles, with all their manifold complications, have no terror for her, yet she understands well the attitude of the feminine mind unfamiliar with these things." As to the salaries paid, it is difficult to speak with certainty, as salaries here, as in other lines of work, vary in different parts of the country, and in addition depend to a great extent upon the liberality of the governing board of directors. As a result of several years of careful observation, however, I feel justified in saying that a girl who enters a bank immediately after her gradua- tion from high school, at the end of four years will be receiving a salary equal to what she might expect to receive, had she spent the four years at college and then taken up teaching. Up to this time I believe very few women college graduates have gone into this work, so I cannot say what they might expect. Or- dinarily, one must begin with a small salary and be content to advance slowly, but surely, it being the custom of most large banks to increase the salary of all their employees each year. In this way, if one stays on with the bank, one will in time receive a salary at least much larger than what one could earn at teaching. One college woman I know, after teaching successfully for a number of years, was offered $1,500 a year to take the position as manager of a woman's department. The advantages of the work are many. In addition to the material advantages, to a girl keenly interested in people, bank work offers an interesting field of observation, and has an edu- cative and broadening effect that teaching lacks. Moreover, in this work a woman gains a familiarity with business facts and figures that is invaluable to her, especially if she is dependent upon her own resources. Another advantage not to be overlooked is the value of associating with men of such high standards as the bankers of this country have almost invariably proved them- selves to be. BUSINESS 191 But having spoken of the advantages of bank work for women, I must now speak of the drawbacks. The greatest of these is the fact that any bank position entails a great deal of confining and nerve-racking work. The bank day is a short one for customers. It is nearly twice as long for the clerks, who must stay at their desks until the day's work is finished, no matter how late that may be. Another serious disadvantage is that, since two or three weeks is the average time allowed for vacation, a bank clerk has little chance to travel and see the world. In summing up the whole situation, however, I would repeat that for a girl possessing, in addition to good health and a thorough education, habits of industry and a capacity for loyalty, and by loyalty I mean not only enthusiasm for the success of the institution one serves, but a willingness to serve it to the best of one's abilities at all times and in all ways, the banking world to-day offers many splendid opportunities for success in a work which is always interesting and stimulating. THE BANK LIBRARIAN AND FILING CLERK GERTRUDE UNDERBILL In discussing the work of the bank librarian and filing clerk, I do not pretend to cover the entire scope of woman's activity in banks, but to suggest a field which until recently has been little heard of. The necessity of putting a trained and educated person in charge of its papers and documents was first realized by one or two banking firms about twelve years ago. Dissatisfaction with the crude systems then in vogue led to the suggestion that library methods of cataloguing and classifying might be applied to the bank's papers. Columbia University Library and the As tor Library were called upon for cataloguers. The experiment was found to work successfully, and other houses followed suit. The positions of librarian and filing clerk are often combined. It is through this combination that one is brought in contact with the more interesting and varied work. In banks where the 192 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN work is more highly specialized, however, the librarian's work may be combined with that of the statistician, as is fully shown in another article in this issue. The work of the librarian and filing clerk consists, first, in sys- tematizing, classifying, and indexing by subject the large accumu- lations of papers. The now well-known vertical system is uni- versally used. The subject of each file is indexed by card, and the card given a number identical to that used on the correspond- ing envelope or folder. A simple numerical system or a variation of the Dewey Decimal System may be adapted to the business files. The working out of a suitable system calls for much in- genuity and thought on the part of the worker. That a certain system has succeeded in one house is no absolute criterion that it will be adapted to the needs of another house, as the subjects dealt in may be quite different in each case. The great ideal of business men is to have their systems both adequate and simple: it is their pride to say, " Any one can find anything in our files." The filing clerk's duties may be said only to begin with the dis- position of material. She must be prepared for any number of vague and indefinite requests for material, and be able through her intuitive sense to make quick guesses at what is really desired, as time is a most important element in "Wall Street." A man well versed in filing systems has said that in England firms usually allow a day for the hunting up of old files, but in America a filing clerk is looked on with suspicion if she takes more than three minutes, one to one and one-half minutes is the average time allowed. In the files of a large banking house the variety of subjects is very great. There is an array of syndicate subjects; loans, foreign, domestic, and individual; legal and corporation matters, reports, mortgages, documents, and statistical work. It is the duty of the filing clerk to see that her files are kept up to date in all such matters. This is done by keeping in close touch with the correspondence of the firm, and also with the news items of the financial papers. Ten years ago the number of positions open in this line of work were comparatively few. The field, however, has broadened to such an extent that filing has become a recognized profession. The necessity for system has opened the door in most houses. BUSINESS 193 As New York is the financial centre of the country, so the oppor- tunities here are many. Every so-called private banker, invest- ment house, national bank, and trust company of any standing offers such a position or will do so in the near future. To enter this line of work with some assurance of success, a short library training is desirable, if not absolutely necessary. During the course of training especial attention should be given to cataloguing and classification. Pratt Institute of Brooklyn and the New York Public Library offer excellent library courses. The colleges and universities of the city, particularly Columbia University, take apprentices in their libraries and give a very ade- quate training. In houses where assistants are employed one can very profitably serve a term of apprenticeship to some competent librarian. The different file equipment companies of the city give short suggestive or outline courses, which should be used only to supple- ment the library training. Cornell and the New York University offer courses in commerce and finance which aim to prepare the student for financial work. The curriculum in other colleges may be planned with this financial work in view. In this case, courses should be taken in economics and mathematics. A thorough reading knowledge of at least German and French should be acquired. The beginner in this work now gets $80 or $90 a month. " Raises in salary," however, are not infrequent, and a few years bring one to a good salary. Inquiry shows the average wage of the experienced worker to be about $1,500 a year. Better salaries than this are obtained in particular instances. Where the work is especially heavy, a salary of $2,000 a year is a just compen- sation. As in other lines of work, term of service here is a con- sideration, and as years are added to one's record, the salary grows. It remains with the woman to demand adequate pay for her service. 194 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN THE BANK LIBRARIAN AND STATISTICIAN M. LOUISE ERWIN In many of the large New York banking and bond houses, women are now filling the position of librarian. In only a few are the positions of librarian and statistician combined, probably because of the lack of applicants having the necessary training. The duties as librarian are the classification and cataloguing or indexing of books, pamphlets, etc., keeping the records up to date, and keeping track of the documents called for. To accomplish this calls for constant and close reading of the daily papers and financial periodicals for issues of new securities, legislative enact- ments, and everything and anything calculated to interest or influence the finances of the United States, individual States, cities, railroad and industrial companies, etc. In addition to having the information on hand properly indexed and readily accessible, the statistician must be prepared to analyze mortgages and reports, write descriptive statements of securities, compile earnings and statistics of any and every kind. Most of the women now employed as statisticians have been trained as librarians and have come to some understanding of the statistical work through the demands made upon them. A few have worked into it through stenography, and at least one through editorial work. But no woman in the knowledge of the writer has as yet filled the position as it can and should be filled, since no woman with the requisite preliminary education has ever taken up the work. Those now engaged who appreciate their lack of preparation have taken up the course at the Washington Square branch of the New York University designed especially for bank clerks. The demands of the different houses upon their statistical departments are so varied that it would be impossible to map out a course of study to fit one exactly for every position offered. In a general way it may be said that a study of the principles of political economy, a course in higher mathematics with a knowl- BUSINESS 195 edge of accountancy, especially of railroad accounts, would be essential. Some knowledge of law would be most helpful. There is also recommended a study of the financial history of the United States and of foreign countries, a familiarity with the publications issued by the different departments of the Federal and State governments, reports on commerce and navigation, crop reports, reports issued by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the reports of railroad and industrial corporations. To those who desire to train for this special work, it may be said that, while it is interesting, it is also exacting. The hours are not those commonly known as banking hours; i.e., from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. On the contrary, there will be many days when from 9 to 6 will not be long enough to accomplish the required tasks. In order to insure the mental alertness, the quickness of com- prehension, and the clear thinking and reasoning power essential to enable one to answer any and all manner of questions and to grapple with financial problems, much self-denial must be exer- cised : there must be a minimum of social gayety and a maximum of rest to preserve the nerve centres. Compensation will depend upon how valuable the incumbent can make herself to her employers. The average is probably from $750 to $2,000, with a vacation of from two to three weeks in the summer. REAL ESTATE MRS. M. E. ALEXANDER REAL ESTATE AGENT AND BROKER, NEW YORK The purpose of this article is to set forth as briefly as pos- sible such information about the real estate business as will be of particular assistance to the woman who is considering a choice of occupation. THE NATURE OF THE WORK. The real estate business embraces the following: buying, selling, exchanging, leasing, managing, appraising, mortgaging, 196 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN auctioning, financing, and building. The business is divided into two branches, brokerage and agency, and then subdivided generally into specialties, the whole being carried on by either the broker or the agent, who is the connecting link between the owner and the purchaser. Property is bought and sold by the investor, the speculator, better termed the operator, and by the prospective resident. The broker acts for the investor, the speculator, and the prospective resident in buying, selling, and exchanging; the agent, in leasing, managing, and mortgaging; and either the broker or agent, generally specializing, acts in appraising, mortgaging, auctioning, financing, and building. QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING NECESSARY. A woman desiring to enter this profession should possess the realty instinct, combined with a commercial and legal mind, energy, application, method, punctuality, accuracy, despatch, integrity, breadth of view, and self-reliance. These, added to her natural keen intuition, initiative, and attention to detail, par- ticularly adapt her to the real estate business. The qualifications of the broker and agent are similar, in that they both should possess the above characteristics, be skilful in arguments of fact, and be able to sum up accurately the prin- cipals' points of view, to overcome objections, and to determine and fix values and the conditions which detract from them. The broker must have ideas, and be able to work out new uses for prop- erties, to recognize the psychological moment when two minds meet, and at that instant be able to draw up and secure the sign- ing of a contract. Brokers who are clever at closing contracts at a moment's notice possess a most valuable asset. The agent must be equipped with the happy faculty of quick perception in appreciating the requirements of a prospective tenant, and have sound judgment in securing tenants; must have executive ability, mechanical sense, be able to attend skilfully to a great number of uninteresting details, and be thoroughly posted on gen- eral real estate conditions. The mere ability to collect rents is not sufficient. Helpful theoretical training can be obtained by attending a series of lectures given in one of the Eastern universities from BUSINESS 197 September to May of each year, covering the particular subjects of the work, such as landlord and tenant, contracts, leases, taxes and assessments, building code, deeds, bonds and mortgages, and the duties of a broker and agent. A course in real property law will assist materially. Considerable knowledge may also be obtained by reading the different articles on real estate found in the Record and Guide and in most daily newspapers, the New York Herald making a special feature of the real estate section. The following text- books would also be helpful, Principles of City Land Values, Real Property Law, Contracts, Landlord and Tenants including Summary Proceedings. Like any other profession, the lectures and readings cannot replace the curriculum of the school of act- ual experience, which is absolutely the first rung, no matter what may be in store farther up the ladder. OPPORTUNITIES. Suburban land companies offer to both men and women opportunities to sell plots to residence buyers, this being a step- ping-stone to larger work. Of course, to get the actual office experience, it is necessary to become directly connected with a real estate firm, taking up the Agency Branch, as this is the first and most valuable step, and women seem to make better agents than men. COMMISSION v. SALARY. Returns are realized only when actual work is consummated, being based on commission and not salaries. The first essential to the hope of compensation is stick-to-it-iveness. Unless one possesses a large supply of the above qualification, the delayed opportunity at the beginning is apt to discourage. On the other hand, the luck of an unusually large first transaction is question- able, often bringing discouragement if the standard is not main- tained. This, however, is more beneficial as consolation in the former contingency than as a warning in the latter. It is difficult to state the amount one could earn per year, conservatively speaking, about $900 the first year. Of course, one is just as likely to make considerably more or less. 198 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Women heretofore have not been given an equal opportunity with men, but are becoming more and more recognized in this business. There is a large field for women of ability, ability being the only passport. INSURANCE EDNA BLANCHARD LEWIS INSURANCE BROKER, WOMAN'S INSURANCE DEPARTMENT, NEW YORK Insurance was my choice upon entering a business life after ten years of teaching, first of all because I most firmly believed in it, and had seen the great benefit to those who had occasion to prove its worth. A strong additional reason was that there is always more or less demand for insurance in one line or an- other. In undertaking the insurance business, a beginning may be made by becoming an agent for some company. An agent works for one company only, and is employed by that particular com- pany under a commission or perhaps a salary, the earnings de- pending, of course, entirely upon his interest and good manage- ment of the business. After a certain amount of experience the agent may become a broker. A broker operates for all companies in the interest of the assured, having a license so to do from the State or States where business is carried on. In case of a differ- ence in the settlement of claims the broker stands between the assured and the company, and takes the entire responsibility of a harmonious settlement. This responsibility should be clearly understood and reflected upon before entering the insurance field, either as an agent or as a broker. The broker's income, like that of the agent, depends upon the number of customers and the amount of insurance carried by each. A broker has more influence than an agent, because the various companies are com- peting for any business he may send in or control, while the agent belongs to only one company. Among the various kinds of insurance policies written are fire, life, endowment, burglary, disability, plate glass, and marine (car- BUSINESS 199 goes and vessels), etc. To the woman just entering the insur- ance business the value of specialization in some form or other is to be particularly commended. The expert in fire or life insur- ance, the adept in endowment or annuities, is too seldom found among agents and even brokers. In connection with insurance of any sort there always comes the opportunity to operate real estate in its various forms, the collection of rents, the renting of houses and stores, and the selling and buying of properties. To the college woman who is starting out there is no special training school along insurance lines. She must get the actual experience from actual work. An important feature of this work is going about and arranging for interviews with prospec- tive policy-holders. Possible customers may be selected from among personal acquaintances, to start with, or from members of some profession, doctors, lawyers, or teachers. The interviews must in any case be planned with system and forethought. I was "started out" years ago with a rate book from one of the large life insurance companies, and could only be sure of my facts and figures. What to say and how to say it was left entirely to my own judgment, and my income depended entirely upon the num- ber of policies written. From this experience I would suggest that helpful subjects would be special training in mathematics, logic, ethics, and psychology. There are to-day comparatively few women in the insurance work, but there are many opportunities for those who are earnest and capable. Such women would, without a doubt, build up a successful business in a comparatively short time. It takes capital to establish such a business, but if for a period, say a year or so, a beginning is made with a company as a special agent, it will not be long before the commissions will permit of the establishment of an office. Women have written insur- ance successfully and extensively in Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and throughout the entire East and West. There is plenty of room for brokerage firms to be established and operated by women, either in large cities or small ones. The country town also affords a fine opportunity for a general agency of several different lines of the work. Special agencies are given upon application by any company or companies, 200 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN provided all vacancies in the proposed district have not been filled. No salary is allowed under such circumstances, but as only one agency is established in one town, the monopoly of the business is assured when the appointment is made. Any responsible person who has had a year or more of experience in writing policies or as an agent, and has thereby received a broker's license from his State, may be appointed. I should estimate as a fair average earning $800 to $1,000 yearly to start with, and from $1,500 to $4,000 or $5,000 to one who has become thoroughly conversant with the details of the busi- ness and has established a good patronage. It is not easy work, but the income will always be commensurate with the efforts made and with the ability to produce. In rare cases salaries are given by the various companies, but only to experienced workers. The highest yearly income yet reached by a woman in this line is, I believe, $10,000. The insurance business needs the influence of the strong, open- minded, enthusiastic, and intellectual woman. It needs women whose aim is not limited to financial success, however sure that may be, but reaches rather to a high desire to be of real service to others, and to prove beyond a question the worth of the vocation. VI CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK THE COLLEGE WOMAN AS SECRETARY SARAH LOUISE AHNOLD DEAN OF SIMMONS COLLEGE, BOSTON In no field are the duties more variable than in that accorded to the secretary. The so-called secretary may address envelopes all day or she may dictate original letters to a score of clerks. She may do one thing exactly as she is told from Monday morning to Saturday night or she may organize, control, and initiate. Her immediate task, then, may demand only a limited experience and training or it may make use of the broadest possible culture, the finest personality, and the utmost executive ability. Obvi- ously, the one who is fitted only for the minor position will never advance. It is likewise true that the secretary who is equal to the greatest task may often find herself required to perform the humblest, and if she is really capable, she will turn cheerfully from one phase of her work to the other, finding advantage in either experience. The writer has been asked to present this problem as it has appeared in the office of a college whose purpose is to prepare women for self-maintenance. A large group of its students is pursuing a course of study which prepares them for secretarial duties. Its graduates are at work as secretaries, and some light is thrown upon the present question by their experience and by the demands made upon the college for further service. The determination to include this school in the college was the result of conferences in which men of affairs had expressed the belief that secretaries could not be adequately trained without the college opportunity. In these conferences it had been often 201 202 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN stated that technique was useless unless supported by a broad general training. In other words, the hand of the typewriter was useless without the head, and was valuable in proportion to the intellect which guided it. It was determined, therefore, to outline a four years' course for college women, which should make them ready for secretarial work. Provision was made further for a one-year technical program for college graduates. The longer curriculum included adequate courses in English, modern lan- guages, science, history, economics, philosophy, etc., with the added technical training which the task in itself dictates, sten- ography, typewriting, book-keeping, business methods. These tasks were so arranged as to develop habit and tendency, as well as mere knowledge of technique. In the briefer course only technical subjects were provided, since it was intended for students who had already completed a four years' college course. The demand for workers who had had this preparation showed at once that the theory advanced by the early advisers is generally accepted by intelligent employers. Evidently the employer feels that it is to his advantage to have the period of apprenticeship in his office shortened by appropriate secretarial training. He likewise looks forward with some hope to the larger understanding which is assured by a college education. The event has proved not only that there is a large demand, but that this demand is of infinite variety. The economist de- sires a secretary who will understand the alphabet of his subject, who will easily take dictation and correctly transcribe, who will also help him to secure material, will classify documents and data with judgment as well as accuracy, and will become expert in his particular field. At the same time all the lesser correspondence must be carried on, library and office must be in order, and many minor details must be kept in hand. The physician makes a similar demand, expecting intelligence concerning biology and chemistry, and possibly some aptitude in nursing, while here, too, correspondence and accounts will be emphasized, and the secretary is expected to preside with tact and judgment over the telephone and even the door-bell. The publisher requires an army of sec- retaries of varying capacities, ranging from mere routine to execu- tive skill and paid accordingly. The lawyer demands a different CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK 203 vocabulary, and insists upon absolute accuracy. Here, also, swiftness is in demand, and the expert who is able to report court proceedings without error may receive large compensation. The college calls for a registrar or secretary who shall be familiar with problems of both curriculum and administration, who shall deal graciously with the public and with the college constituency, who shall understand the problems of the individual students and the anxieties of father and mother. Yet here, too, the daily routine may often involve many simple tasks repeated over and over. The business woman requires a secretary who is accomplished in social correspondence as well as in business matters, who is accu- rate in filing, able to look up subjects at the library, ready to do an errand down town or even to mend her gloves. It is evident that the demand upon the secretary varies not only with the business, but with the employer. Success may depend, then, quite as much upon individual characteristics as upon technical training. Experience further shows that the qualifications of the secretary are: first, character; second, personality; third, general educa- tion; fourth, technique. The order of the statement is inten- tional; it is virtually a summary of the evidence secured in conferences with employers and in reports from the field. The character of the secretary is indicated by the largest de- mands to be made upon her. Whether her work is small or great, she should be absolutely trustworthy. The work of her office is a private affair, not on any terms to be communicated to others; what she hears and transmits she must not tell, it is not hers to give away. She must, therefore, have a fine sense of honor, to be worthy of trust. Further, she must have joy in service as such; she cannot succeed if her first desire is to be "let out" when the clock strikes five. She must have, also, a sense of social respon- sibility, and must clearly recognize the relation of her task to the general welfare. In fact, she must almost over-emphasize the importance of this, so that she may not substitute personal con- venience and privilege for the work which she has promised to fulfil. No one need expect to succeed as a secretary in any re- sponsible position unless this character is assured. By personality we mean all the gracious gifts which home, school, 204 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN friends, and other great factors of environment have bestowed upon fortunate individuals, or shall we say, which individuals have won from their environment. The ability to deal easily and pleasantly with the various persons with whom one is brought in contact is indispensable to the secretary. Invariably courteous, gentle, cheerful, tactful, sunny, courageous, optimistic, she creates the atmosphere of the office. When hearing dictation, she is silent even under hesitation or repetition. She does not intrude comments on the weather into the sermon or thesis which she is transcribing. While serving as the stenographer, she is merely the channel for the message, and her own personality for the time being is lost in the impersonal act. At the same time she never fails to perceive anything which would add to the convenience of her employer, never forgets appointments or other items of business interest, brings order out of disorder, and in general makes good deficiencies without seeming to notice them. These various abilities indicate the power of losing one's self in the interest of another and finding pleasure in the act and art of service. Imagination is helpful here, and the person who has been accustomed to the courtesies of a refined home has here a great advantage. It is evident from the description of the variety of the positions awaiting the secretary that general education is indispensable. The stenographer may be master of machine and sign, yet utterly ignorant of the subject with which the employer is concerned. When a sentence has once been dictated, it is recalled only by the stenographic sign. If the words are completely new, any hesita- tion causes the secretary to ransack her vocabulary in search of the right word. It is evident that, if her training has been meagre, the vocabulary fails to respond, for "words are the signs of ideas," and naturally refuse to appear when the ideas are totally lacking. No subject of study is, therefore, remote or without use to the secretary: she must always be a student of English for the sake of clearness of expression and style, as well as understanding; history is indispensable, if she is to deal with educated persons; languages reinforce her English; science increases her vocabu- lary and lends clearness and definiteness. Nothing comes amiss. Aside from the knowledge gained, the training of the college should CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK 205 have left her with a mind apt to learn its new lessons and ready to be taught. If she is well educated, she will take up her new work with spirit, rejoicing in every new thing to be learned, eager to follow the new path and to achieve new tasks. It is the timbre of the trained mind which counts, quite as much as the knowledge which it is supposed to bring. Fourth in the list of essentials we have placed technique. It goes without saying that, other things being equal, technical skill will determine the rapidity of advancement and ability to hold the position. Every secretary should write a good, clear, legible hand. This requirement is indispensable, and is, unhap- pily, difficult to secure. The long-hand is as necessary as the short- hand. In the latter art, however, speed and accuracy are essen- tial. Of course, accuracy comes first. This having been secured, so that the writer is trustworthy, technically speaking, every gain in speed multiplies the value of the secretary to the em- ployer. If twice as many letters can be taken in an hour, the secretary is twice as valuable. Everything which costs the em- ployer's time diminishes the value of the secretary. Here, then, is a good reason for the painstaking which results in technical skill. It is easy to see that the secretary who possesses the charac- teristics named, who has all the abilities described, will be in great demand. During a public conference concerning the opportu- nities for college women a gentleman once asked what such a secretary would earn. Instantly a business man sprang to his feet, and replied: "Please say that such a woman would release $10,000 time. She should be paid accordingly." A little thought given to this reply will indicate why the char- acteristics referred to are indispensable to the secretary. The college woman who is preparing for such duties should hold before her this ideal of the secretary's task. 206 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK HELEN M. KELSEY MANAGER, FIFTH AVENUE AGENCT, NEW YOBK Fully nine-tenths of the "clerical and secretarial positions'* to which a college girl would be attracted are entered by means of a knowledge of stenography and typewriting. The other tenth, such as those requiring book-keeping, accounting, statistical work, etc., may be dismissed from consideration in this article. There are many and varied openings for the college girl in secretarial work proper. She may be secretary in a school, where her duties include, besides the writing of letters from dic- tation, the keeping of school records, the making out of reports, and the daily accounting, though rarely any book-keeping. Some- times, of course, the school secretary is, properly speaking, the private secretary of the principal, in which case her duties may be classed with those of the secretary to any individual, whether he be principal, professor, doctor, or philanthropist. Besides these openings in professional circles, there are a few of what may be called "semi-literary" positions, such as those in publishing houses, in which a college woman may gradually attain to posi- tions of a good deal of responsibility in reading manuscript, editing, etc. Here she is doing a bit of original work which may in the end absorb her to the exclusion of her purely secretarial duties. Along this line is the work with large philanthropic and religious organizations, where a secretary may assist the head of a department, working at his direction, and also, in his absence, assuming the direction of the office routine. From this subor- dinate position the woman of good judgment may advance in time to the headship of a department or to the charge of a smaller independent organization. Aside from these there is a wide but less well-known field for those who are attracted by it in the purely commercial world. The generation of college men that are coming more and more to the front in business appreciates the value of the trained mind, and with the tendency toward CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK 207 greater specialization in all lines demands secretaries who can be depended upon to act with judgment. All the positions described above merit this special mention here because the college education per se is the fundamental ele- ment of value. It gives a background which makes possible an intelligent grasp of the details of the particular occupation, whether it is education, publication, philanthropy, or commerce. But let the graduate remember that her college education is but the background. It must be supplemented by special training and by acquaintance with business methods. Acquaintance with business methods the individual employer expects her to gain under his direction, but special training she must acquire by further study. In practice the employer expects his new employee to take time to learn the details of his business, but he demands that she "earn her salt" in the mean time, and his idea is that she does both most effectively by taking corre- spondence. The conclusion is clear: the woman who enters business does so most easily through the open door of stenog- raphy. Let her, then, choose a good school, one in which the instruc- tion is individual, so that she need not be held back by other pupils who start less well equipped, and let her put her whole mind to acquiring an accurate knowledge of stenography and typewriting. For the college woman the important acquirement is not at first speed, but rather a thorough knowledge of the principles, so that her notes may be absolutely accurate and read- able. In the class of position she will enter, not bulk of output, but quality, is the first requirement. The number of months required to gain a practical command of stenography varies so greatly with individual aptitude that generalization is danger- ous. In rare cases a student may acquire a practical knowledge of short-hand i.e., what is called "letter speed" in from four to six months. But this length of time presupposes both apti- tude and application, and certainly no shorter time should be counted upon. Disappointment and ultimate loss of time are sure to follow too hasty a course. Given, then, a college education and a working knowledge of stenography, is success assured? By no means; for one important 208 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN element of success in this line, as in any other, is the indefinable quality called "personality," and another element is the individ- ual's attitude toward her work. Promotion in the business world is not a matter of routine; it goes to the one who deserves it, be she an old or a new employee, a college girl or "self-made." The college girl, then, must start with the rest, and win her way by sheer merit and ability. The chance is to the one who does not refuse a beginning, however small, and who realizes that her position is what she makes it. The question as to what constitutes a small beginning in terms of salary is difficult to answer, since this must always be gauged by the current cost of living. One college graduate, for instance, saw the advantage to her of a position in New York offering only $8 a week, and within two years she had advanced gradually with the same organization to a position paying $20 a week, her average salary during the two years having been probably about $15. But in most cases a beginner is not expected to take less than the current living wage, about $50 per month according to New York standards. From this the advance depends almost entirely upon individual aptitude, upon the secretary's ability to make herself valuable. Unlike the teacher, she is usually not bound to a yearly contract, and may have her salary raised several times in twelve months. She may, and probably will, if she is of average ability, soon be worth $65 per month, and get it; and there is no maximum limit for the secretary who can make herself indispensable. A fair salary for a private secretary is $1,200, and the woman secretary of one philanthropist has received $10,000 per year. Unlimited opportunity lies before the one who will remember that merit counts in this line of work more than in almost any other. A woman equipped with a college education, some tech- nical preparation, and above all with that confidence in her own ability to "make good" which makes her willing to start low and earn her way, has the world before her. CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK ' 209 THE PRIVATE SECRETARY ANNE PILLSBURY ANDERSON FORMERLY PRIVATE SECRETARY TO HON. JOSEPH H. CHOATE The duties of a private secretary have been gilded to such an extent by the popular novelists and playwrights that the prevail- ing idea among the uninitiated is that letter- writing in a fair hand constitutes the most difficult of the tasks imposed, and that, when not occupied with correspondence, the secretary stands in effec- tive attitudes in a more or less well-lighted background. How- ever familiar this may be in theory, practice speedily pin-pricks this peaceful and alluring bubble. A thoroughly successful secretary is born quite as much as made, as the corner-stone upon which all attainments rest is composed equally of the ability of keeping secrets as deeply buried as the treasures of an unknown Egyptian tomb and a well-devel- oped sixth sense. To this foundation must be added method and neatness and as many virtues as one poor mortal can muster, tact, courtesy, and self-control being not the least among them. As to practical attainments, it is necessary that one should have as broad an education as possible, a thorough knowledge of stenog- raphy and typewriting and also of a cataloguing or card index system. As the requirements of each position vary, there can be no hard-and-fast rule of what should be studied in the so-called "commercial course" other than the above. The best method of obtaining the practical training, which is an absolute essential, is to enter a busy office as stenographer to a member of a firm or officer of a corporation. In the majority of cases a stenographer grows into a secretary gradually, a busy man being only too thankful to throw into competent hands the details which are too vexatious and petty for his considera- tion. As this preliminary position is taken as a means to ulti- mate secretarial work, it is quite necessary to be known to the members of the firm and as many of their clients as possible by cheerful, accurate work. I have seldom known faithful, satis- 210 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN factory service to go unrewarded, but it is often necessary to seek openings for advancement. The length of this training depends entirely upon natural ability and upon the power to seize and make the most of opportunities. As to compensation, one must again be vague. It all depends upon the circumstances of locality and requirements. It is difficult to imagine a profession less controlled by routine than that of a private secretary. Each day differs from the pre- ceding one, and there is never a dull succession of drab weeks. Instead, the brain is kept alert by the questions and perplexities of the hour, and the ability to perform the daily duties "judg- matically" grows with the months and years of experience. One year at least is required as a probation period upon entering a new position. Until a twelvemonth has elapsed, a secretary has not learned the A, B, C, of the countless details of the work peculiar to that particular post, and to the end of incumbency each day brings fresh lessons. If there is the slightest expectation of a rosy, sunny existence in being methodical in confused surroundings, neat in disorder, or self -controlled in a post surging with problems, stop before beginning. If one perseveres, one may confidently expect to widen one's horizon, deepen one's sympathies, and gain an unusual knowledge of men and affairs, quite impossible in the majority of professions. TRAINING FOR INITIATIVE IN SECRETARIAL WORK ALICE HARRIET GRADY SECRETARY TO MR. Louis D. BRANDEIS, BOSTON Being secretary to a busy, brainy man of large affairs demands the unremitting energy and unstinted devotion of a woman whose intelligence and sympathy are sufficiently well developed to enable her to appreciate the importance of the undertakings in which he is engaged. Mere quickness and skill will not make the ideal secretary. CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK 211 LENGTH AND KIND OF TRAINING. A college course obviously lays the foundation for a quick assimi- lation of the specific knowledge to be acquired before entering a business office. Then there should be one year at a good business college, during which, besides the special study of short-hand and typewriting, some attention should be given to elementary book- keeping and arithmetic and the methods of banking, also partic- ular attention to spelling and punctuation. The knowledge of how to file papers, transmit telephone messages, and perform the numberless duties incident to office life is best acquired by doing them. A few months' experience in a business office down town will be found more valuable than any institutional train- ing, and should be acquired, even though the applicant finds it necessary to offer her services free of charge for a short time. PROBABLE COST OF TRAINING. The cost of one year's tuition at a good business college will probably be in the neighborhood of $150. After supplementing this tuition by six months of faithful work and observation as a "substitute," the candidate should be worth $10 a week as a stenographer. Now begins the real period of apprenticeship. During the next four years there will be ample opportunity for the cultivation of "adaptability," as she seeks to adjust her life to the practical world of affairs in which she finds herself. This is all a part of the training. She must not be discouraged if at the end of four years she still finds herself in receipt of a small salary. The four years' specific training should show a very marked increase in intellectual alertness and sympathetic appreciation of the undertakings in which her employer is engaged; and it is with this key that she may hope to unlock the door to the position of confidential sec- retary. If at the end of ten years, however, a woman who has made use of her opportunities for service is not receiving a salary of at least $1,200 a year, it is time for her to make a critical ex- amination of herself and her work, and find out the reason why. Her increase in value to her employer and his business from this time on, while it depends largely, of course, upon herself, must 212 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN also depend upon his ability to permit her to be useful. Those women who are now filling positions as confidential secretaries are still considered something of an experiment, and there are many business men who have not yet grown sufficiently accus- tomed to placing confidence in a woman's discretion and ability to enable them to appreciate her possible worth in business and to utilize her capabilities. CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE WORK. The duties will vary with the business or profession of the em- ployer, and may cover activities ranging all the way from filling an ink-well, adding a column of figures, making appointments, or figuring a percentage, to reporting a legislative hearing. In some offices they may include ordering office supplies, the filing away of correspondence and other important papers, books, pam- phlets, maps, charts, etc., for future reference, the test of good filing being, of course, the ability to find a document immediately when it is wanted. NUMBER OF OPENINGS IN BOSTON. In my opinion there will continue to be openings in Boston until every man or woman in the city transacting a business of any magnitude has an assistant whose qualifications I shall attempt to outline. QUALIFICATIONS. System. Punctuality, thoroughness, neatness, method, fore- thought, observation, and accuracy naturally group themselves under this head. Education. By education I mean not the facts and figures and theories dug from books in the college class-room, but the ability to apply those facts and theories to the practical affairs of life. The importance also of "general information," culled nowadays largely from newspapers and magazines, is not to be overlooked. The secretary should be familiar with the names of the prominent people in her own community, and know some- thing of the movements in which they are interested. She should not permit herself to be altogether ignorant of what the people CLERICAL AND SECRETARIAL WORK 213 in other cities, other States, and other countries are doing towards making current history. Rectitude. In adapting one's self to "team work," one should not forget that the merging of minor considerations for the sake of the larger cause does not mean a deviation from one's reso- lute adherence to one's own convictions on any question at issue involving a matter of principle. Versatility. The work of the stenographer or secretary may demand some slight knowledge of the technicalities of many busi- nesses. For instance, in a law office she may to-day be called upon to report a conference between men in the medical profes- sion. To-morrow an architect may desire to dictate a contract for the building of one of our modern beehives of industry. The next day a poultry dealer attempts to lay before counsel in the presence of a stenographer his complaint concerning brooder- houses and incubators on his chicken farm. In each case our would-be stenographer discovers herself in need of an entirely new vocabulary, and happy is the woman who finds that she is mis- tress of the situation. In the average office, too, the personnel is constantly changing, and it becomes the part of wisdom for the stenographer to be sufficiently familiar with the duties of those about her to perform their tasks, if occasion requires their absence or some unusual congestion of work in another department of the establishment requires her assistance outside of her own prescribed duties. Initiative. This quality has been described as "the ability to do the right thing without being told." Equally valuable, it seems to me, is the ability to avoid doing the wrong thing without being told. It is this one quality, perhaps more than any other, that differentiates the "stenographer" from the "secretary," which terms are used by many persons as though they were synonymous. Cheerfulness. Under this head must be included sound health and a well-nourished body. It should be particularly remem- bered that it is not so much what one does as the way one does it that counts. Professional Spirit. A transformation would be wrought in the attitude of men towards women in business if the women 214 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN would discipline themselves into limiting their conversation dur- ing business hours to strictly professional topics! The aggregate increase in economic efficiency which could thus be realized can hardly be estimated. A sympathetic appreciation of the business undertaking, a gradual merging of one's self into the community life about one will develop that esprit de corps and loyalty to one's business associates without which no office community can be run har- moniously or successfully. Enthusiasm. It is one of the secrets which every successful business woman learns for herself, sooner or later, that the con- fidence which she desires to inspire grows by what it feeds upon, and that an enthusiastic assumption of the smaller responsibilities of to-day invites larger responsibilities on the morrow. It is par- ticularly true in the business life that we build to-morrow upon the foundation which we lay to-day. VII LITERARY WORK LIBRARY WORK FOR WOMEN JOSEPHINE ADAMS RATHBONE INSTRUCTOR, PRATT INSTITUTE LIBRARY SCHOOL The field of library work is a very broad one; it is con- tinually enlarging, and no corner of it is barred from women. The more important positions are filled by men, as in all other professions, and this will probably be the case for years to come, until women's executive powers have been trained by use; but the difference between the positions held by men and by women is one of degree, not of kind, and there is, on the whole, less differ- ence between the highest salaries paid to men and to women in it than in any other salaried profession. The educational requirements and professional training nec- essary for success in library work will be discussed elsewhere. It should be understood that the conditions set forth in this paper apply to those who have had or who desire to obtain the necessary preparation for efficient service. For our purpose we will consider the library work under three heads: Public Libraries, School and College Libraries, and Special Libraries. PUBLIC LIBRARIES. We will omit from consideration the village libraries of less than 5,000 volumes. These can seldom afford trained assistants, and many of them are administered by volunteers. The librarian of the library of from 5,000 to 100,000 volumes, of which there are about 2,000 in the United States, is usually a 215 216 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN woman. She has the opportunity of making her library the cen- tre of the educational and intellectual life of the community. She comes into contact, as does the woman in no other occupa- tion, with every element of the community, with the school- children of all ages, with the teachers, with business and profes- sional men, with women's clubs, and with organizations of all kinds. It is her business to study the community and find out its interests and its needs, to select books to meet these interests and needs, to make these books available by her knowledge of the best library methods, and to attract people to the library by making its resources known, by stimulating an interest in books, and by creating an atmosphere of culture, of hospitality, and of helpfulness within the library itself. There is in this work scope for the exercise of all a woman's powers, executive ability, knowledge of books, social sympathies, knowledge of human nature. The salaries for trained women as head librarians range from $600 in the smaller communities to $2,500 or $3,000, the larger number being between $900 and $1,200. In a small library the librarian and two or three assistants do all the various kinds of work, getting the books ready for use and serving the children and adults who come to the library, but in the larger libraries there is need for greater specialization and special branches of the work have developed. Among these are administrative work, cataloguing, reference work, circulat- ing department work, children's work, school work, each de- manding workers with special qualifications. The chief administrative posts in large libraries are for the most part held by men, though there are a number of women assistant librarians or librarians' secretaries with salaries of from $1,000 to $2,000. Administrative in character also are the positions of librarians of branch libraries, of which there are sixty odd in Greater New York alone, practically all held by women, and ranging in salary from $900 to $1,500. The amount of responsibility resting upon the branch librarian depends on the policy of the system. It is, generally speaking, somewhat less than that of the librarian of an independent library of the same size, but the opportunities for usefulness are almost as LITERARY WORK 217 great, and in the larger city systems far greater than in many independent libraries that are hampered by a conservative or restrictive board of trustees. Circulating Department Work. The coming of the "open shelf" has brought books, readers, and library assistants together in a new relation. It is now realized that this point of contact is a vitally important thing, and the standard of intelligence and cult- ure demanded of circulating department assistants is being raised rapidly. Women possessed of the broadest culture as well as of attractive personality and executive ability are being sought for the headship of circulation departments at salaries of from $900 to $1,800, and the supply is far from adequate. Trained assist- ants in the circulation departments get from $50 to $100 a month, and the standards of salary are rising with those of efficiency. Children's Work. This is comparatively a new field, and the demand for trained workers of pleasing personality, experience and sympathy with children, and knowledge of children's books, greatly exceeds the supply. The larger city systems have super- visors of children's work at salaries ranging from $1,200 to $1,800. Librarians in charge of children's rooms in independent libraries or in branch libraries receive from $700 to $1,200, assistants in children's rooms from $500 to $800. Besides the books themselves, children's librarians have used pictures and other illustrative material to attract and influence the children, and have found story-telling a very effective means of stimulating an interest in reading and of introducing the chil- dren to authors and to subjects that they might not otherwise discover. So important a part of children's work has the story hour become that some are already specializing in the direction of story-telling, and more will undoubtedly do so. Work with Schools. This is closely allied to children's work, but many of the larger libraries have assistants who give all their time to library work with the schools, and at least one of the large systems has a regularly organized department for this work, with assistants in the several branches. This work may include visiting the schools, sending to the class-rooms, or arranging in the libraries collections of books 218 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN relating to the subjects studied in the schools, preparing exhi- bitions of material illustrative of special subjects, keeping the teachers informed of books and periodical articles on their sub- jects, etc. Many who go into this work have been teachers or have had normal school training. The remuneration is about that of the children's librarians. Reference Work. This work consists in helping people who come to the library for information as distinguished from those who come to borrow books, and the information sought may range from the pronunciation of a word to material on the psy- chology of white rats or the evolution of the leit-motif. There is needed a wide range of general information, knowledge of books, a reading knowledge of French and German, as many of the best reference books are in these languages, tact in meeting people, infinite patience, and a certain detective faculty for fol- lowing clews. In the larger libraries, reference work has become largely specialized; art, music, applied science, law, and medical reference departments are found requiring specialists in these subjects. Men are more in demand than women for some of these positions, but there are many women in general reference work. The salaries range from about $900 to $1,500 for heads of departments, and from $600 to $900 for assistants. Cataloguing. Under this head I have included all the tech- nical work with books from their reception in the library to their placing on the shelves. This work demands method, accuracy, despatch, good general information, good "book sense," and a knowledge of foreign languages, the latter varying in extent and importance in differ- ent libraries. The work appeals to those in whom the book interest and sense of order and method are stronger than their interest in people. The position of head cataloguer in a large library demands also considerable executive ability, and commands a salary of from $1,000 to $2,000. In a few of the larger libraries these po- sitions are held by men, but cataloguing is chiefly woman's work. The subordinate positions command salaries of from $600 to $1,200. In 1898 a State commission was appointed in Massachusetts LITERARY WORK 219 to encourage the establishment of free public libraries, and since then commissions have been appointed in thirty-four States. The commissions employ secretaries or organizers who travel about the State starting new libraries, reorganizing old libraries, train- ing the local librarians. Many of the commissions send out travelling libraries, conduct summer library schools, advise in the selection of books for the local libraries. This work is very largely done by women, and demands a forceful and attractive personal- ity, unbounded energy and enthusiasm, and the power of arousing enthusiasm in others, great physical endurance, and a sense of humor. Salaries range from $800 to $1,800, but such qualities cannot be paid for, and the work appeals only to those who work "for the joy of the working." Indeed, this is largely the case with all kinds of public library work. The pleasure one takes in congenial occupation, in work that seems supremely worth while, is a very large part of one's compensation. Librarians are underpaid : most of those who are successful could make more money in other ways; but they rarely care to leave their chosen calling. SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LIBRARIES. The demand for librarians in high schools is a growing one. The qualities needed are about those demanded of reference workers plus a great enthusiasm for books, since the opportunity for influencing the reading of the high-school pupils is incalculable. These positions are under the boards of education. The require- ments generally demand library training and some previous experience in library work. Salaries range from $900 to $1,200, but an effort is being made in Greater New York to put the high- school librarian's salary on a level with the teacher's. There is a growing realization among educators that teachers need a better knowledge of children's books than has been required of them in the past, that teachers should be more expert in lab- oratory methods of using books, that they should know the value and scope of the more important reference books, and that they should be able to administer school-room libraries. This realiza- tion has led to the demand in New York and other States that the study of books and of library methods be taken up in the 220 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN normal schools. The need has therefore arisen for librarians who shall be able not only to administer the libraries of normal schools, but to give instruction along these lines. This is new work, but it is already of recognized importance. Experience in teaching, or training in a normal school as well as library train- ing, is needed to carry on this work successfully. College library work generally demands college graduation as well as library training for the higher positions. The libra- rianship in a man's college is seldom held by a woman. In co- educational colleges, women are sometimes librarians, and are invariably so in women's colleges. Even in the men's colleges the headship of departments, as well as reference and cataloguing positions, are often held by women. Salaries are a little lower, as a rule, than in public library work. SPECIAL LIBRARIES. These are, as a rule, collections along certain lines, as his- torical libraries, libraries of learned societies, libraries of pub- lishing houses, business houses, insurance companies, etc. The work in them is largely reference work, cataloguing, and indexing, and there is a constantly widening field for women of good edu- cation and special training or special tastes in libraries of this sort. Women of quiet, bookish tastes, good language equipment, including Latin and Greek as well as the modern languages, and thorough training in cataloguing, have found congenial work in cataloguing private libraries, which often contain old and rare books. The demand for work of this sort is not so steady as for regular library work, but when once a reputation as an expert is established, one finds plenty of opportunity. Such work com- mands from $75 to $125 a month. Given a love for books, a woman can find in library work ex- ercise for all her tastes, faculties, and powers, and the lasting satisfaction that comes from doing a work that is worth while. LITERARY WORK 221 LIBRARY TRAINING MARY ESTHER ROBBINS DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY SCIENCE, SIMMONS COLLEGE A number of library schools in different parts of the country offer by means of skilful instructors carefully planned courses in methods and usages proved by the experience of many librarians to be best adapted to carrying on the many activities of the modern library. These schools vary in conditions for admission, length of course, and consequent character and amount of instruc- tion. The oldest, best-known school is the New York State Library School, located at Albany, N.Y. The conditions for admission require that the candidate be not less than twenty years of age, of recognized fitness and character, and a graduate of a college registered by the New York State Education Department. The college course must have included at least fifteen hours a week in foreign languages, of which not less than three must have been in French and three in German. The tuition fee for the entire course is $100 to residents of New York State, $150 to non-residents. The course requires the entire time of the student throughout two college years. Instruction is given in library administration, bibliography, cataloguing, classification, book-binding, loan work, order and accession work, printing, and various other technical subjects. In addition to the time devoted to class work and prep- aration, carefully supervised practice in the general work of a library is required of each student. Successful completion of the course leads to the degree of Bachelor of Library Science. AH details of information regarding the school may be obtained from the director, Mr. James I. Wyer, Jr. Other library schools, arranged chronologically by date of founding, are Pratt Institute Library School, Brooklyn, N.Y., Drexel Institute Library School, Philadelphia, Pa., University of Illinois Library School, Champaign, 111., Simmons College 222 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Library School, Boston, Mass., Western Reserve University Library School, Cleveland, Ohio, Library Training School of the Carnegie Library of Atlanta, Ga., Wisconsin Library School, Madison, Wis., Indiana Library School, Indianapolis, Ind., Syra- cuse University Library School, Syracuse, N.Y., and the Carnegie Library Training School for Children's Librarians, Pittsburg, Pa. The University of Illinois Library School is a regular school of the university. Candidates for admission must present ninety- eight hours of credit in university work, including the subjects prescribed for graduation from the College of Literature and Arts or the College of Science. These credits may have been secured at Illinois or at some other institution of equal standing. The annual tuition fee is $12 for each of the two semesters. There is also a matriculating fee of $5. A course of two years of technical library work is given, includ- ing both required subjects and electives. The successful com- pletion of the course leads to the degree of B.L.S. Students have practical work in both the library of the University of Illinois and the Champaign Public Library. Added details of information may be obtained from the director, Mr. P. L. Windsor. Applicants for admission to the Library School of Pratt Insti- tute must pass examinations in literature, history, current events, French, and German. As the number of students is limited, those candidates showing the best preparation and fitness are selected. Applicants must be at least twenty years old. Persons over thirty-five are advised against undertaking the work. The tuition fee is $75 each year. The incidental expenses, in- cluding supplies and the vacation trip to visit libraries, average from $55 to $60. Two courses are given, a general course and an advanced course, each covering one college year. Each is independent of the other, but the advanced course requires for admission the equivalent of the general course. In addition to training in tech- nical library methods, instruction is given in appraisal of fiction, modern continental literature, and technical French, German, and Italian. Because of the nearness of the school to the great library collections in New York, the students have unusual LITERARY WORK 223 opportunity to study the cataloguing of incunabula, history of printing, and Latin paleography. Certificates are awarded on the satisfactory completion of either of the prescribed courses. Requests for information should be addressed to the director, Miss Mary W. Plummer. Those wishing to enter the Library School of Drexel Institute must pass tests in general literature, general history, general information, and languages. A limited number of students are selected from those presenting the best qualifications. The tuition fee is $50 for the year, with an additional sum of from $15 to $20 for necessary materials. The course covers one college year. Instruction is given in cataloguing, library economy, studies of books and authors, reference work and bibliography, library history and extension, and the history of books and printing. Certificates are given to those completing satisfactorily the whole course. All inquiries should be addressed to the director, Miss J. R. Donnelly. Simmons College Library School offers two regular programs. Undergraduate candidates must have graduated from a high school or have had equivalent preparation, and must present such subjects for admission as are usually required by academic col- leges, with the addition of arithmetic. The subjects may be offered either by certificate or examinations. To these students instruction is given in library training and selected academic subjects, in parallel courses, throughout four college years. On those who finish the entire course satisfactorily the degree of Bachelor of Science is conferred. Graduates of other colleges, showing fitness for library work, pursue a one-year program made up chiefly of technical library subjects. In addition to this year of study, six months of acceptable work in some library and a thesis must be presented by a candidate desiring the degree of Bachelor of Science. The tuition is $100 for each year. Necessary supplies and books cost from $15 to $30. Board and room in the college dormitories may be obtained for from $260 to $300 a year. For added information address the director, Miss Mary E. Robbins. 224 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Applicants for admission to Western Reserve Library School are required to pass entrance examinations in general literature, general history, current information, and in two languages, one of which must be modern. Previous education, experience, and personal qualities are also considered in selecting the members of the class. Persons under twenty and over thirty -five years of age, who have had no library experience, are not usually admitted to the class. The tuition fee is $100. There is no matriculation fee, but a graduation fee of $5 is charged. The course extends over one college year, and gives a foundation for general library work. A certificate is given on the satisfactory completion of the course. The school is fortunate in its location. The students are admitted free of charge to classes and lectures in Western Reserve University, and have opportunities for an unusual variety of practical library work in connection with the University Library, the large Public Library of Cleveland, and the many special libraries in the city. Miss Julia M. Whittlesey is the director. The Library Training School of the Carnegie Library of At- lanta, formerly known as the Southern Library School, re- quires a high-school education, or its equivalent, as a prepara- tion for the entrance examinations. The class is limited to ten students each year. There is neither matriculation nor tuition fee. A general course in library methods is given, extending through one school year. While especial attention is given to the admin- istration of the small library, graduates of the school are enabled to take positions in large institutions. For full information address Miss Julia T. Rankin, director. The Wisconsin Library School at Madison is entered by com- petitive examinations held in June of each year. Tests are given in history, general literature, and general information. Accepted candidates who offer no library experience must spend at least one month in practical work in a designated library before the school opens in September. Two courses are offered, the library course and the joint uni- versity and library course. Students in the library course give LITERARY WORK 225 their entire time throughout two college years to the technical library instruction. Upon successful completion of the course, with the addition of two months of practical work in an approved library, a certificate of graduation is given. The joint university and library course permits a student of the University of Wis- consin to offer toward his degree of Bachelor of Arts not less than twenty unit-hour courses of library work, these courses to be taken during his Junior and Senior years. The technical courses are much the same as those given in the other library schools. All students become familiar with the many library activities centred in Madison. The tuition fee for the entire library course for resident students is $50, for non-resident students, $80. For resident university students there is no tuition fee, for non-residents it is $15 a semester. The director is Matthew S. Dudgeon. The Indiana Library School gives entrance examinations in general literature, general history, general information and cur- rent events, and requires a reading knowledge of French and German. The course covers one school year. Instruction is given in " subjects required by American Library Association standards. Particular attention is paid to children's reading and work with schools." Certificates are given for satisfactory work. The tuition fee is $100. Added information will be given by Miss Merica Hoagland, director. Syracuse University Library School offers three courses, as follows : "A. A two years* technical course for college graduates, lead- ing to the degree of Bachelor of Library Science. "5. A four years' combined academic and technical course, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Library Economy. "C. A two years' technical certificate course." For admission to course A, candidates must be graduates of academic colleges of approved standing. In courses B and C the same credentials are required as for matriculation in the philo- sophical or classical courses of the College of Liberal Arts, Syra- 226 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN cuse University. In course C students must also be at least eighteen years of age, and must remove all entrance conditions before beginning technical work. The entering class is limited to twenty-five. Choice of students will be decided by merit. Tuition for the four years' course is $37.50 each semester; for the two years' courses, $30 each semester. A deposit of $15 for books and supplies is required at the beginning of the first year of technical work, and $10 at the beginning of the second year. A library trip costing from $30 to $50 is required during the second year of technical work. The fee for graduation and diploma is $20; for the certificate, $5. Professor Mary J. Sibley is the director. The only library school which confines its instruction to one phase of library work is the Carnegie Library Training School for Children's Librarians at Pittsburg. Those wishing information as to entrance requirements and courses should write to the direc- tor, Frances J. Olcott. Brief six weeks' courses are given each summer by New York State Library School, at Chautauqua, N.Y., by Simmons College, and under the auspices of several of the State Commissions. These courses are open only to those holding library positions or under appointment for such positions. The schools located in large cities offer opportunity for visiting many typical libraries, museums, and similar institutions, giving valuable suggestions to the thoughtful student. No recognized library school gives definite promise of positions to its graduates, but thus far general experience proves that there are constant demands for properly prepared library workers. The salaries received by graduates of library schools vary from $50 a month to $75 or $80 at the start. The equipment and ex- perience of the individual and the geographical location of the library cause the variation. LITERARY WORK 227 NEWSPAPER WORK FOR WOMEN GERTRUDE L. MARVIN WELLESLEY FELLOW, RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION. The term "newspaper work" usually suggests the reporting and editing of a paper, although there are two other very impor- tant departments, the mechanical and the business. Only the news end will be considered in this report. The news end has numerous dignified and desirable positions, which, if they were attainable for women, would offer a most desirable goal. There are the managing, and city and desk, and day and night editors, whose work ranges from keeping the paper closely in line with the policy laid down by the owners and the interests of the busi- ness office to reading the copy turned in by reporters all day long. The news is divided between two fields, local and foreign. The city editor has charge of all local news, that is, within a radius of about twenty miles. He keeps a big book, called the "assign- ment" book, and in it are recorded, weeks and months ahead, coming events of public and general private interest. Keeping this book, which involves knowing where and when news events are going to occur and how to get at them, is the city editor's chief responsibility; nothing should escape him. Through a large circle of acquaintance, a thorough knowledge of the city and every section thereof, and through careful and constant reading of the newspapers, he must know everything that is going on which has news value, from the big conventions to the small personal items. The city editor, then, must be primarily a man among men. He must not only know all sorts of people, but he must make them like him enough to let him know when some- thing is going to happen. His salary, on the five papers investi- gated, ranges from $1,820 to $4,000 per year, with an average of $2,412. Co-ordinate in rank with the city editor are the desk men, the day and night editors, whose work must always be discriminat- 228 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN ing, although most of it comes pell-mell at the last minute. The city editor's responsibility for the news usually ends with know- ing about it beforehand, and assigning it on the proper day to the right reporter. The desk man's begins when the reporter comes dashing in from the scene of activities, and sitting down at his desk, rattles off on the long sheets of yellow copy paper an account of what has happened. The desk man glances through the mass of copy, divines its gist, and hands it over to one of his assistants, with instructions as to editing, before it goes to the composing- room to be set up in type. As the time for going to press ap- proaches, the copy pours in faster and faster, the composing-room signals up that the paper is already overset, and yet perhaps now, at the last minute, an item of first importance in the whole day's events comes in, and must be made room for. In the midst of all this clamor the desk man must keep his head, racing through the piles of copy, weighing its merits as discriminately and giving as cool and careful decisions as though he had all the leisure and quiet in the world. The desk men's salaries, on five papers, range from $936 to $3,000 a year, averaging $1,900. A good deal of the responsibility in important lines which re- quire a first-hand day to day familiarity is delegated to specialists. Thus we have the financial editor, the political, sporting, dramatic, and musical men. These special editors are really more reporters than editors. The editor sits at his desk and edits the news which is brought in, while the reporter goes out on assignments which are given him. A special editor combines the two functions by being entirely responsible for the organization of his own field and by covering it as far as possible in person. The best of these positions are, perhaps, the most desirable on the newspaper staff, for while escaping the continued, draining responsibility of the editors and the necessity for constant work at highest possible pressure, they give the opportunity to pick and choose, to take the most interesting assignments and leave the drudgery and the routine stories to the "call men." These special editors deal intimately with the most active and spectacular phases of public life. The political man is obviously important, because the parties depend so much on the support of their newspapers. There are usually several special LITERARY WORK 229 reporters assigned to the various lines of public activity, one man for State politics, another for city, a man at the State House, others at the courts and City Hall. At Police Headquarters there are men on duty continually throughout the entire twenty-four hours. The fields of literary, dramatic, and musical criticism also have their specialists, connoisseurs on these subjects, men who have gained their experience as college professors, writers, organ- ists, painters, and who are fortunate enough to combine the triple gifts, command of their own art, critical ability, and faculty of expression. At almost the other extreme of popular interest are the sports, with specialists on baseball, football, yachting, golf, sparring, automobiles, horses, college and school athletics. Other lines which are so constantly active as to require the atten- tion of a special man are the water front, railroads, suburban correspondents, and exchanges. Responsibility in these positions varies with the character of the paper and the temporary impor- tance of the department. After the news instinct, which is the first requisite for every newspaper man, it is very essential that these special editors should be "good mixers,*' men whom other men like and trust, who are good fellows all the way through, from being apt story- tellers to respecting a confidence. Only by gaining a reputation for discretion and conscientiousness can a man hope to work his way up to reporting that counts, among important people who, knowing that they can trust him, will give him tips and informa- tion in advance, to be released at a certain hour. The Associated Press, for instance, gets the reports of executive committees and special documents hours and sometimes several days before even the legislative bodies hear the results. Some special editors draw salaries running up to $75 and $100 per week, while the majority of special editors probably average between $30 and $40. This leaves only one other important position, that of rewrite man, who is found on four of the papers visited. He does a special- ized work formerly included in the duties of the general reporter. More and more to-day the literary part of the reporter's work is being turned over to the news desk, where sit half a dozen rewrite men, who are the literary force of the paper. As the copy comes in, the news editor or desk man glances through it, and tosses it 230 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN over to one of them with directions. It may be a rambling tale of 1,000 words, and "make that a 50-word item," in which every one of the essential features shall be included; or it may be a hasty dashing down of 100 bare words of names and places and facts, for which the public are all eager, and "work it over into a 2,000-word story." Then, consistently with the degree of sensationalism in which his paper indulges, the rewrite man selects the most thrilling or touching or important element in the story, and features it, putting into it as much sympathy and human interest as he is capable. The New York Sun has the best rewrite men in the country, and their salaries range up to and over $100 per week, but on any paper a good rewrite man is worth from $30 up. The demands of this position, however, are tremendous, for besides inexhaustible originality in clever devices and telling droll tales, besides great versatility in the use of humor, satire, and description, the rewrite man must be well posted on current affairs and conditions in every possible field from a foot- ball game to a dressmakers' convention. He must recognize at once, in a mass of copy, the essential parts of the story, know the technical terms of that line, and how to use them. These higher editorial and reportorial positions have decided attractions. But there are serious drawbacks in them for women. All the editors and newspaper women interviewed feel strongly that the high nervous strain under which the editors must work, especially in the last hour before the paper goes to press, would wear a woman out in a short time. It is a maelstrom of hurry and anxiety, and for the man at the top, of intense responsibility, which all the people who know it seem to feel that no mere out- sider can even faintly conceive without experience. Woman's ability to control such situations is, of course, a matter of opinion, but newspaper people themselves doubt it, and point to the fact that there are no women holding such positions in Boston. The nervous strain which the desk editors and rewrite men in the news-room particularly feel, does not so especially apply to the work of the special reporter and editor, but here there is another handicap for women and fully as great a one. It is the difficulty of being unable to keep in touch with the men who are doing the LITERARY WORK 231 world's work and who command public attention. Of the six editors interviewed, five agreed that the average man's prejudice against talking to a woman seriously or trusting her with im- portant information would prove a serious handicap to a woman. This would apply especially to political, financial, military, and water-front news. There is also a large amount of scandal and murder news that would be so disagreeable as to deter a woman from having anything to do with it. These objections do not apply to the critic's work, but perhaps the reason which one prominent critic gave for there being practi- cally no women critics may be more broadly applied to the whole field. He says that in all his years of experience he has never found a girl reporter whom he could trust even enough to train. He thinks that perhaps the clever, discriminating woman, capable of doing serious work, is too ambitious and able in her own line to find it worth while to settle down to the necessary apprentice- ship. Unwillingness to put up with inconveniences and particu- larly disagreeable conditions may very possibly deter many clever women, who by reason of their literary ability would naturally be attracted to newspaper work as an opportunity for writing. For, with the exception of special concessions occasionally made to some man or woman of established reputation in his art or profession, who may do part-time work at his own convenience, newspapers lay down fairly strenuous and exacting conditions for their apprentices. Reporter "on call" is the only position on any of these papers open to the inexperienced candidate, and such reporting is very different from the work of the special experienced man that has already been described. The hours are long and irregular. On a morning paper they run from one in the afternoon to midnight, usually, with an occasional evening off. But the free evenings can never be counted on in advance: they come only when the news happens to be slack. On the afternoon papers the hours are almost as bad, for, while they are only supposed to be from half- past eight or nine to five, an assignment will very often come in at the last minute that will keep the reporter out until midnight. This means no freedom whatever. The irregular hours also affect the meals. An assignment often takes the reporter out into the 232 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN suburbs for hours at a stretch, where restaurants are unheard of and where one can only work ahead as fast as possible in order to get back to town. It means all kinds of weather, too, for suicides and elopements will occur, be it fair day or foul, in houses several miles from the nearest car track, and they have to be looked up at once. A long, hard trip like this is not only an every-day matter, but it means no extra pay. Some papers start their reporters with mere expenses, that is, car-fare and telephone fees, then, if they seem promising, they are taken on the staff at an initial salary of $6, $8, or $10. One paper pays $12 to start, but it usually secures reporters who have served their apprenticeship on other papers. Some papers pay only for space work at first, that is, about two cents a line for every line printed; but as the desk usually cuts the stories in two or even more, this makes a meagre salary, unless the beginner has real ability and can turn in acceptable copy from the start. Every newspaper man interviewed asserted with great emphasis that the essential requisite for success, be it as young reporter or experienced editor, is the news instinct. This instinct, or "nose for news/' is a rather mysterious quality. The six editors interviewed agreed that it is an innate quality, and one which, not inborn, can never be developed. Moreover, they also agreed that one can never judge of its presence by appearances. Some- times the most unpromising material will manifest it from the start, and again a most capable man in other respects will lack it. It is ability to recognize news in whatever form or disguise, and news is anything with sufficient significance to interest the public. As the public is about the most complex thing in the world, it may be interested from a variety of standpoints, and it is the man who is big enough to recognize human interest in any guise, who can get away from himself and his little personal point of view, that will recognize news possibilities in trivial items. Besides this, there is an element of luck which scarcely bears analysis, but certain it is that some of the big reporters always seem to be in places just when something happens. This is the instinct part, half occult, and a little exaggerated perhaps; but on Newspaper Row there are remarkable instances of men who do have the luck, who again and again, wherever they happened LITERARY WORK 233 to go, have been just in time to witness and write brilliant records of the world's great events, earthquakes, conflagrations, and riots. The significant point here, however, is the opinion gener- ally held by newspaper people that women, almost without exception, lack the news instinct. The editors say that they have not the detective spirit, they do not get around quickly enough to make brilliant "scoops." Their forte is and has been writing human interest stories, weaving a web of romance about some little news item, the work which is now chiefly handed over to the rewrite men. But the rewrite man must have such a com- bination of news instinct to recognize the essentials of some long story, and ability to write fast and well, even brilliantly, under tremendous pressure at the eleventh hour, that, as the name implies, no women are doing this work. Not only, then, does the disagreeable nature of the apprentice- ship deter a woman from attempting it, but she is not, in the opin- ion of all the editors interviewed, very valuable for the work, after all. In fact, of these six editors, three said flatly that there was no desirable opening for women on their papers, while the other three, who asserted that there was an opening, admitted that they consider a position with a maximum possible salary of $18 to $20 a week a desirable opening "for a woman." Woman's present position on seven Boston papers is of interest. Of 2,092 employees, 45 are women, and of this 45, 26 are doing the usual stenographic and cashier work. Only 19 are employed in the news end, as contrasted with approximately 472 men re- porters, editors, and correspondents. Of responsible positions as editors and special reporters, there are about 228, and men are holding every one of them. Women are, in fact, limited to four classes of subordinate positions. Two of the positions held by women are referred to as editors, the society editor and the woman's page editor. They were not described with the leading positions, however, because they are so very much inferior in importance, prestige, and pay. Ten women are regular reporters, taking assignments as they come in, and doing approximately the same work as the inexperienced men reporters "on call." Five women are special reporters, being reserved for occasions such as society affairs, conventions, and meetings of women's clubs and 234 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN religious organizations. Two women are society editors, and the remaining two do miscellaneous work of a general woman's page nature. The editor of the woman's page is usually a woman. She must have originality and ingenuity to devise new attractions for her page, to respond to popular interest with various columns of housekeeping hints, ethical reflections, or advice to the lovelorn. She must be seasonable with directions for putting away woollens in the spring and filling up chinks in the windows as the winter approaches. She must read the papers, listen to people and note the currents of public attention, get interviews with some popular woman, actress or lecturer, give pictures of some hotel or other business concern run by women. This is not a high order of literary labor, as one realizes when one reads these women's pages, though it is undoubtedly capable of development. We must realize that these pages are all in response to popular de- mand. Some wise woman, alive to possibilities, may eventually recognize and develop this direct path of influence and commu- nication with the public. With a minimum outlay of time and money, this page might carry into thousands of homes the very messages for which settlements and district nurses and churches and hospitals are organizing classes, the fundamental facts of housewifery and motherhood, cleanliness, diet for infants, the care of tuberculosis in the home; or, reaching out to another type of reader, might persistently mould the opinions of the more en- lightened on saner ethical principles than are now found in advice columns. Although one managing editor and the woman's page editor of another paper were very sanguine as to the possibilities of the page, the opportunity is not generally recognized, and the position is as yet by no means one of importance. Akin to the woman's page is the special work for the Sunday papers, and there are probably more women engaged in this department than in any other branch. It is, however, impossible to give any statistics about them, as the "Sunday Magazine" is space work paid for at from $5 to $8 per column, and the con- tributors are not members of the staff, but free lances, sending in what they like, when they like, often working for two or three papers at a time. They are absolutely independent in their LITERARY WORK 235 hours. As to subject-matter, they must consider the public, and give it what it wants. The society editor, when the paper has one, is always a woman, and she is a familiar figure to almost everybody. Perhaps it is not generally realized, however, that she is held in no higher regard in her own office than among the people whom she drags, unwilling victims, into print. As one editor said, the society editor has a disagreeable job. She must have years of training to know every one in society and to find the leaky channels on which she can depend for news. During this training she must become absolutely hardened, willing to forego people's confidence, to use her friends one and all, to sacrifice everything to her one purpose of getting the gossipy news into print first. Such are the positions to which women are limited. The pay varies with the paper, the individual ability of the woman, and her years of experience, but the maximum for all these positions on any of the six papers is $35 a week. In the cases of fifteen re- porters the minimum salary was $8, the maximum $35, and the average $18. The two society editors averaged $26, and the two woman's page editors $14. $18 means, probably, the high-water mark that the average newspaper woman in Boston can hope to achieve. There are rumors of phenomenal salaries on New York papers to popular special story writers, but they seem to be rare and a matter of luck, due rather to the happy accident of making a temporary hit with the fickle public than to either brilliance or hard work. There are also stories of prominent magazine writers and novelists who gained their first experience in newspaper work, and some of the young girl reporters talk of "working up into magazine writing," but they point out no predecessors here in Boston, and their ambitions are very in- definite. Finally, what conclusions shall we draw as to the desirability of newspaper work for women? We are met by three grave handicaps, the present difficulty of mingling on an equal footing with men of affairs and the consequent difficulty of getting the news from them; the physical strain of the high-pressure work necessary for rushing a modern successful sheet into press, which debars all but women of iron physique; and, lastly, the obstacles 236 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN at the start and the limit to promotion. Entering Newspaper Row, as it is organized to-day, with a determination to win success, almost necessarily involves breaking down certain funda- mental standards of womanhood and of the dignity and reserve which belong to it which may better be preserved. A MORE HOPEFUL OUTLOOK IN NEWSPAPER WORK AGNES E. RYAN The special discouragements peculiar to journalism for women are said to be two: (1) the long, laborious, unpleasant apprentice- ship as news-gatherer or reporter; and (2) the lack of good posi- tions of any kind open to them after the long apprenticeship has been faithfully served. These two dampers on the profession for women are usually treated as inevitable, and brave, indeed, or inspired, or mad must the woman be who persists in the face of them. Six years* ex- perience in the various phases of "literary work," however, my deepest convictions from 1902 up to date, and the present out- look for women journalists prompt me to say (1) the reporter's thorny path is not the only road to journalism for women, and (2) a society column and an inane woman's page in which a woman of brains, ideals, and common sense must inevitably write down to other women as though they could have no brains, sense, nor ideals, are not the necessary and only goals at the end of the long road. The first statement I shall have to substantiate from my own experience. I can perhaps best demonstrate the second by calling attention to certain conditions observable in the newspaper and periodical world to-day, and by asking readers to note the changes taking place there and to read their signifi- cance. When I started out in 1903 to earn my living, I was bent on becoming a writer. I was not well equipped for anything. I certainly had no training to fit me for journalism, I knew no jour- nalist whom I could consult, and nothing but discouragement LITERARY WORK 237 was given me in answer to questions about the only profession which attracted me. Graduation over, however, I entered upon a position at the very foot of the literary ladder. The position was with a struggling magazine which offered me a literary ap- prenticeship, "prospects," and $4 a week. This may seem a meagre beginning, but the experience there was invaluable. It included folding circulars and press sheets, addressing countless envelopes, making out bills, doing all kinds of clerical work in a very dirty office, and later going over all the newspapers that came to the office for our advertisement and the notices of our magazine. Handling the papers from all over the country for even this purpose gave me some necessary acquaintance with papers in general, and the best ones I took home with me at night for study. After a time I was given magazine articles, stories, poems, recipes, household hints, and prize contributions to read with a view to publication. To be allowed to do this kind of work was encouraging, especially as my judgment as manuscript reader was found to be good. Next I was initiated into the mysteries of "making up" the large press-sheets which we sent out each month. Then came a taste of proof-reading. The editor did all the proof-reading on the whole magazine, and the two days' training he gave me in reading copy and catching errors on the proof -sheets opened up a new phase of literary work. When I saw how essential good proof-reading is to the magazine editor, I decided to perfect myself in the profession as soon as possible. I accordingly drew from the library a proof-reader's manual and studied it diligently. Lest I give the impression that all this valuable experience in the editorial rooms was altogether satisfactory, I must say that for every day's experience beyond the purely clerical I fought hard, and that, though my work grew in volume and importance, and though it was granted that I had ability, I was unable to get more than $5 a week. This was discouraging, but it was not so bad as the prospects, for there was no denying the fact that I was not needed in the editorial department, and while I might stay there indefinitely, there was no hope that I would ever get more than $7 a week. As I was obliged to earn more 238 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN than that, I tried to get another position. When I had tried in vain for months, I grew desperate, gave up my work there, and set out to get a position elsewhere. In a few days I found a chance to become a proof-reader in a large publishing house. Here I learned to set type and read proof on a very high grade of books for eight months. While holding my first position, I had two articles published which brought me friends. The result was that two positions were offered me in the same week. One was a better position as proof-reader: the other was a semi-editorial position with better hours, more pay, more agreeable work, better prospects. I took the second position, of course, and in it had nearly three years of valuable work. Here all my college training and the experience gained in the other two offices stood me in good stead. Besides some clerical work, I read proof, prepared manuscript for the printer, edited both book and magazine manuscripts, had charge of all book and magazine manuscripts that came to the house, did about a third of all first reading on book manuscripts, wrote for some of our publications, and did a good deal of writ- ing for other publications. The rest of what may be called my apprenticeship has been spent in proof-reading, editing and re- vising long book manuscripts, and in various kinds of writing. Two newspaper positions have recently been offered me, one at $30 a week, with opportunity for editorial writing at about $10 a week extra pay. While the road I have travelled has been neither short nor smooth, it is a great improvement on the typical reporter's path. I have not been badly treated, the hours have not been hard, the pay only $16 maximum, but the interest and enjoyment keen, and the range of experience broad and valuable. In addition to the several positions with publishing houses there has scarcely been a week in which I have not furnished copy to some weekly or daily. Though my experience has not been so hard as is said to be the lot of the beginner usually, it has been much harder than the lot of the beginner need be again. Fortunately, conditions under which a beginner prepares for journalism have greatly changed. More teachers and editors realize that journalists need training, LITERARY WORK 239 and courses of journalism have been introduced into the cur- ricula of several colleges in this country.* Now the girl who wants to become a journalist begins early in her college course to make all her work at college contribute toward fitting her for this calling. She chooses those courses which give her the broadest knowledge of life and which give her practice in writing. She works on the journalism course as though her daily bread de- pended upon the quality of her work in this preparatory course; and she gets connection with some daily or weekly paper which will accept and pay for good paragraphs of real news value. Col- lege news, educational news of all kinds, religious news, make a good beginning and are at hand. While in college, any girl who expects to become a journalist should earn at least $1 a week by actual newspaper work, whether on a large daily or a small country weekly. This will mean car-fares, at least, and the ex- perience to be gained from regular work on a country newspaper of even the poorest type is not to be despised. Club news, so- ciety news, church and school news, local news of every descrip- tion, is in constant demand; and while the pay is small for even good work, the experience is invaluable, for here as well as any- where else one learns what news is, how to get it, how to tell it, how to deal with people, how to deal with editors; one gets ac- quainted with newspapers, their contents, character, methods, and in time one comes to study the newspaper world with a view to what it has to offer. And what it has to offer to-day is not what it offered fifty years ago, a decade ago, or even five years ago. The news- paper world is undergoing changes. The number of newspapers and periodicals started, the changes in columns, departments, and pages, the general upward tendency, are significant. A deal * University of Missouri at Columbia. Tuition is free. The cost of living in Columbia is from $3 to $5 a week. University of Wisconsin at Madison. Tuition is free to residents of the State The cost of living near the university is from $3.50 to $5 per week. Boston University course started in 1908, open to Juniors, Seniors, graduate and special students. For regular students the journalism course is covered by the regular tuition, which is $125 per year. Special students may take the course for $9 per semester. 240 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN of journalism of particular interest to women is being produced. Women readers of all classes of papers are now forces to be reck- oned with as never before. Women are passing through an impor- tant transition: they are changing and growing. A new order of woman is being evolved, and a new order of journalism must be provided for them. Consider the Peggies, the Ella Wheeler Wilcoxes, the Beatrice Fairfaxes, the Mildred Champaignes, the Nancy Lees, the Margaret Lanes, the Listeners, the Chatterers in Boston. They are innovations in journalism within the memory of the newest girl graduate. We may scorn them, smile at them, refuse to read them, but they are with us and they are significant to women. Bad as they are or good as they are, they are not the end, and there will be more of them, not less. Con- sider the women writers of the country, the authors of books, the writers for all classes of magazines and papers: they have proved themselves as contributors and writers and journalists. Only the beginning in journalism has been made by women, and as great a revolution is taking place in this as in most other phases of life in which the women of to-day are concerned. Present-day tendencies in journalism mean three things of importance to women journalists: (1) that women themselves are growing and demand better papers; (2) that there is a growing demand for women writers, who alone can furnish the new and better journalism for women; and (3) that a trivial society column or a sentimental woman's page is no longer the highest goal which a sensible woman journalist may hope to attain. A high-grade, uplifting woman's page, which men as well as women may read with profit, a page requiring more ability, more character, higher ideals, greater faith in women, greater expectations for women than have been seen, is the logical outcome of the near future. It is the journalism which is surely on the way, and for which it is worth while for women journalists to prepare. LITERARY WORK 241 FREE LANCING IN NEW YORK MINNIE J. REYNOLDS Independent writers, attached to no publication, are called free lances in the newspaper world. The magazine sections of the Sunday papers over the country are very largely supplied from New York through newspaper syndicates. This syndicate matter and the magazine sections of the New York Sunday papers or the Saturday editions of the evening papers are supplied very largely by the free lances. The free lance also sends some material direct to outside papers, sometimes syndicating articles of his own among them, does occasional assignments for the city editors, and every now and then places a story in the periodical press. He sells poetry, jokes, short fiction, special articles, news items, and photographs. His old, reliable, and steady market is the Sunday paper. Regular rates of payment in this paper run from $5 to $10 a column, and a column contains about 1,000 words. Special articles, for which special bargains are made, command much more, sometimes several hundreds of dollars. The novice must base his calculations of a possible income, however, on the regular rates. It is quite impossible to estimate this income, for it depends entirely on each individual. It may be said in general, however, that it is a comparatively easy thing for a very ordinary writer with very ordinary industry to make $1,000 a year free lancing in New York. It is a very easy and a very speedy matter to write a thousand words. It is not a matter of time or difficulty to get the material to fill a thousand words. The crux of the matter comes in knowing what sort of material to get, how to get it, and where to sell it. If a writer knows this, he never need ask anybody for a job: his living is always in his hands in New York. A thousand dollars a year is mere poverty in New York City, as any one who has tried it knows. When, however, one re- 242 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN fleets that the women teachers in the grades of the New York schools must begin for $600 a year, that after they have taught thirteen years they get only $1,120, and that to command this sum the teacher must have had what amounts to six years of previous professional training, must have passed a stiff examina- tion and then substituted a while before she got an appointment, and that men teaching the same grades get from $300 to $1,000 more than she, it becomes apparent that, as women's occupations go, free lancing is not to be despised. Any success in free lancing commonly demands previous ex- perience on a newspaper staff, either in New York or in some other city. I do not see, however, why persons should not suc- ceed without it. If a person can write, he can write, whether he learned how on a newspaper or not. Writing for the Sunday papers is not reporting, which can be learned only on a staff. It is far more like magazine writing. The magazines and the Sunday papers grow more like each other every year, as the name "magazine section" indicates. One who can write for the Sunday papers may never be a reporter, but if he is successful he will, after a time, begin to write for the magazines. Two little tales of two women who came to New York to free lance may prove more useful than general maxims. One ar- rived in the city in summer, unacquainted with a soul in it. She was on the verge of nervous prostration, she had no good clothes, no good looks, and it was with extreme difficulty that she could be civil to anybody. Consequently she made no friends. She had no job, and she did not want one. She had left a good job because she felt she must have a change. Nevertheless, she made her board and lodging the first week she was in New York with one thousand words sold to the Sunday Sun. And she made more than $1,000 that year, an amount which she steadily in- creased for several years until she reached what was apparently her limit. This woman had had eight years' experience on a morning daily in a city of some 200,000 inhabitants. In addition she studied the New York Sunday papers all of them as she would have studied to take a degree. The first month she was in the city she took in $32, which was exactly enough to pay her landlady. The LITERARY WORK 243 next month she took in $35. But the next month her receipts suddenly jumped to over $100. Manifestly, she could not write any better in August than in June, nor so well, for it was hotter. But she had begun to learn what the editors of the various papers would buy. The experience of the second woman proves that it is not neces- sary to know how to write in order to free lance in New York. She could not write the simplest paragraph without making a mis- take as to fact; and her writing was dull and commonplace in style. She had, however, other advantages. She was abnor- mally industrious and abnormally charming. Every one who knew her liked her, and would give her material. She knew many editors, and slipped easily into their sanctums to discuss ideas for stories. Consequently, when they wanted special stories, they naturally thought of her. Beyond all this she had one true and very important professional quality. Her mind was an idea mill, amazingly productive of subjects for articles which commended themselves to editors. She not only knew what the editors would buy, but she could supply them with ideas they had not thought of. She had an instant and amazing success as a free lance in New York. The point of view from which the free lance is regarded varies diametrically with temperament. Some people instinctively desire a niche in one of the established institutions of society, the schools, the church, the organized charities, some great vested interest. When they know that this is behind them, they feel con- tent and safe. They feel themselves part of a great institution, their income is fixed and assured, and they are suited. Such persons never believe a free lance when she says she does not want a position. The true free lance, however, would not take any job at the same money she earns without it. It would have to be better to tempt her. She does not like to keep office hours, to work under orders, or feel herself a cog in some great revolving wheel. She prefers to work "on her own," as the doctor, the lawyer, the dentist, or the artist, does. She dislikes the idea of a direct employer. She accepts the greater freedom of indepen- dent work as compensation for the greater uncertainty of income, although, as a matter of fact, the income of the free lance who has 244 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN once gained her footing preserves a stability which is very curious, considering that she never knows where it is coming from. For a novice who contemplates free lancing the first essential is that she should like to write, that she should prefer to earn her living that way rather than any other. The next essential is to study the Sunday papers as she would study geometry or Virgil, study them to find out what the man who edits them wants and will pay for. No free lance can ever be successful who has not an interest in many things outside of her business. Any line of thought whatever in which she is interested will give her ma- terial to write about, if she knows how to write. One free lance, for instance, began to study the Italian language. Association with her teacher led her into explorations in the Italian colonies in New York, which enabled her to sell many hundreds of dol- lars' worth of Italian stories to New York papers and magazines. If one is interested in settlements, in missions, in charities, in society, in bridge, in beauty doctors, in theosophy, it all yields "stuff." Albert Diirer, they say, taking a stroll, beheld to his very great astonishment a blue monkey. Returning to his studio, he painted the blue monkey into a picture of the Holy Family. The good free lance will inevitably work every blue monkey she sees into a newspaper story and sell it for hard cash. WOMEN IN PUBLISHING HOUSES EDITH A. WINSHIP EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT, CHARLES E. MERRILL COMPANY, NEW YORK The departments of the publishing house in which women are chiefly employed may be classified in general as financial, ad- vertising, sales, and editorial departments. The financial department obviously is concerned with the keep- ing of accounts and the related work. Women are very gener- ally used by the publishers for this work, as by other business houses. Here one looks for accuracy, aptitude for figures, and a certain steady reliability. The technical training in accounting, LITERARY WORK 245 oilling, and the various other details of book-keeping provided in high schools and business schools gives a girl a good start; and she should be able, as she proves her worth, to rise to a well- paid position of responsibility. The advertising department is a good place for a wide-awake girl with literary tastes. The soliciting of advertisements, which is limited to the magazine field, is the man's province. But in the book publishing business the advertising department is con- cerned with providing ammunition to help sell the books. This work women can do and are doing in many publishing houses. This department issues catalogues, circulars, announcements of new books, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, liter- ary notes about authors and books, and other devices of modern advertising. The assistant to the advertising manager should be a good judge of both books and people. She can train herself for the work chiefly by the practice that gives a command of words and a ready pen, by studying the effective use of type, paper, and color, and by observing what attracts attention and interest. She may get her start through stenography and type- writing; and with ability and favoring circumstances she should be able to advance into the original, constructive work of the de- partment. The term "sales department" may here be used to include the office work that promotes the sales of publications through other means than are indicated for the advertising department. The office constantly receives inquiries about publications, and these must be handled by an intelligent correspondent who will make friends for the house and sell its products. Good use can here be made of a knowledge not only of all the publications of one's own house, but of other books in the same field. The power to write a convincing letter must usually come through training one's self, for the English courses in school and college naturally tend to a literary rather than a business style of writing. The writing of business-getting letters is a sufficient achievement for the am- bitions of any girl, and success in this line is fairly sure of recog- nition. In connection with the sales department many records must be kept, and information and lists of possible purchasers must be 246 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN gathered from the four corners, and kept up to date and usable. Such work is usually done by girls. Training in cataloguing and keeping records, such as is given in library courses, is good prep- aration for this work. Methodical habits of work, and ability to sift and organize facts, a girl may, and should, acquire along with her study of history, science, and other subjects. The editorial department is, in most cases, the centre of at- traction for the college girl; and if she has the right qualities, she will find here one of the most interesting of all employments for women. Manuscripts are read with a view to deciding whether or not the house should publish them; if accepted, they are edited and made ready for the printer; illustrations are planned and secured; and proof is read in various stages until the book is ready to be printed. For magazines the work is similar and the same equipment is needed, though the make-up of a magazine presents a different set of problems. Skill in proof-reading is usually the first requisite for an applicant in the editorial depart- ment. She should have also accurate knowledge and good taste in the use of the English language, and constructive as well as critical ability. Much technical knowledge is needed for this work a knowledge of types and the procedure in printing-offices, of certain characteristics of drawings and photographs, and of methods of reproduction. Such information cannot be had in any degree from books and lectures: it must be learned from the in- side, from observation and experience. The technique of proof- reading may be learned from books, and with a careful eye a little practice will set one going. A girl should be content to start at almost any sort of apprentice work. Progress will come as she becomes familiar with types and the details of book-mak- ing, and proves ability to take on editorial functions beyond the reading of proof. Through all the departments of a publishing house there are positions for the stenographer and secretary with the president, manager, and other officers, the agents, and heads of departments. The characteristics of such a position are much the same as in many other business houses; but the work may be especially interesting to a girl who likes books. She may reply to letters without dictation, keep track of dates and engagements, inter- LITERARY WORK 247 view callers, seek out statistics and information, and in various ways exercise initiative and offer suggestions. A knowledge of foreign languages may be useful. In all these ways education beyond the high school counts well. Fastidious English, good style in the mechanics of typewriting, and the personal qualities that make a good "right-hand man" all help to make a girl valuable in such a position. After all these things have been said, we must emphasize the fact that publishing houses are not so very numerous, and that their positions for women are not waiting for applicants. It behooves the girl who is looking for such a position to adapt her- self to as many of the possible openings as her training and per- sonal qualifications will admit. She should consider also allied work outside of publishing houses, such as proof-reading in the printer's office, writing for the advertising agency, and manu- script work for the college professor. Of the salaries no general statement can be made with definite- ness. By a well-educated girl with experience $15 per week should be easily attained; $25 may be regarded as the usual maxi- mum, though experienced women in positions of responsibility go well above that figure.* * According to the report of Miss Gertrude L. Marvin, Wellesley Fellow in the Research Department of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union, the six book-publishing houses investigated in Boston employ 106 women and 131 men; that is, nearly 45 per cent, of the total employees are women. But of these 106 women, only 6 are holding responsible positions, paying over $20 a week, as contrasted with 45 men holding executive positions in these same firms. Of these 6 women 3 receive $25 a week. The exact salaries of the others are not known. ED. 248 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN WORK IN A PUBLISHING HOUSE JESSIE REID ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT, THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, NEW YORK The difficulty and the abiding interest of work in a publishing house lie in the changing nature of the commodity produced. The systematic distribution of soap or of boots might pall, but of books never. No two offer the same problem. Even where the general subject may be the same, two given volumes will appeal to widely separate classes, and a publisher's success depends upon his skill in passing each book into the hands of possible buyers with the least fumbling. The number of college women employed in the work is greatly on the increase. Up to ten years ago it was uncommon to find graduates in the publishing offices. Now nearly all of the leading houses have two, three, or half a dozen on the staff in positions intermediate between those of stenographers and department heads. The primary difficulty is that so much more or less me- chanical detail has to be learned that the first year's work is usually at a salary of not over $12 a week, and larger imme- diate returns are possible elsewhere. Some publishers give each manuscript a careful reading in their own offices. The majority send all except those obviously unsuitable out to one or another of an unattached staff of ad- visers, basing action on the report received. Some, after a manu- script has been accepted, give it thorough scrutiny before sending it to the printer, with a view to forestalling corrections at a more expensive stage. Proof-reading proper is the work of author and printer, but every book needs supervision while in press. It is necessary that some one see to it that proofs are passing between printer and author with due regularity; there are delays, and complaints to be investigated; there are often illustrations to be supplied by the publisher, and arrangements must be made for these; sometimes questions as to the quoting of copyrighted material arise, and must be settled by some one in the publishers' office. LITERARY WORK 249 Where many school books are published, a "reviser" is kept busy indicating changes needed to keep them up to date, geog- raphies, for example. In some cases, indexes, etc., are made in the publishing offices, but usually such a detail is privately ar- ranged for by the author. Publicity work includes supplying literary editors in all the different cities with information about books in preparation or recently published. Reviews are not often written by the pub- lishing houses, but the machinery of distributing books for review, specimen illustrations, or extracts, or authors' portraits, requires or offers the opportunity for a skilful discrimination. There are also special descriptive circulars to be prepared, and the formal advertising; while the province of special cataloguing, spring and fall announcement lists, etc., is limited only by the amount the firm is willing to spend, and that in turn depends upon the attractiveness with which they can be designed and written. Another field where a publisher finds educated help service- able is in establishing relations with possible customers. If a house publishes many reference books or scholarly works on special subjects, it is desirable to list the names and addresses of the comparatively few men who own technical libraries or whose good word may introduce the book to others. Such lists ob- tained by carefully trying out the membership lists of certain clubs or names otherwise gathered are frequently valuable assets. Where educational books of college grade are published, lists are kept of all men teaching a given subject in any part of the country, and they are fully informed as to the contents or special character of any book upon their subject as soon as it is published, and often earlier. Special correspondence with schools, with libraries, secretaries of reading circles, and women's clubs, is another section of the work of introducing a new book. One publishing house which issues a cyclopedia has liberally offered, though not in so many words, to supply by correspondence any information lacking in the same. At any rate, it employs three women, of whom at least one is a college graduate, in the research work needed to answer the numerous questions received in reply. 250 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN Of course, where the house in question publishes periodicals as well as books, there are still further opportunities, but these belong rather to editorial lines of occupation than to publishing. Of original "literary" work there is comparatively little. For the most part, the work is plain commercial drudgery. No two houses divide their work on precisely the same system, and it is almost impossible to make comparative statements as to salary. Perhaps it is safe to say that list-building, writing de- scriptive and "follow-up" letters and ordinary circulars, are paid for at from $12 to $25 a week, ranging from a beginner to experi- enced fair ability. Exceptional ability, especially in the direc- tion of preparing advertising material and distributing it in such a way as to get results, commands exceptional rewards. At its worst, there is no more drudgery than in any commercial business, and there is always the savor of sporting interest in the success or failure of each new book. EDUCATED WOMEN IN MAGAZINE WORK JAMES EATON TOWER EDITOR, "Goon HOUSEKEEPING MAGAZINE" Is there a considerable and growing field for educated young women in the editing, manufacture, and circulating of magazines? May we expect to see college graduates turning to this field in large numbers rather than entering the crowded ranks of the teachers? What is "magazine work," as a woman finds it? and how well does it pay? Are there many young women already at work in this field, enough of them to demonstrate their ca- pacity and fitness? These questions, I presume, fairly cover the problem as the Women's Educational and Industrial Union wants to lay it before young women. The subject might be dismissed in a summary manner because the magazines which our friends have in mind are so few. There are less than one hundred magazines, all told, of the scope and LITERARY WORK 251 standard to make any particular appeal to educated young women. Of trade monthlies and weeklies, devoted to the interests of scores or even hundreds of trades and professions, there is a very large number, but owing to their technical character they offer no spe- cial attractions or opportunities outside the familiar channels of business. Of magazines for women which are entitled to recog- nition in this article there are about thirty. Of those for the family and individual, irrespective of sex, which we may term for convenience the magazines of news, miscellany, and literature, there are in the neighborhood of seventy. Here, then, are one hundred magazines, in round numbers, which employ young women in larger or smaller numbers. Suppose each one offers two vacancies a year, of a character to interest the young woman of education. It is the exceptional girl, among the army of thousands of yearly alumnae, who finds work of this description exceptional in a commercial way, at least. But she ought not to be too exceptional in character, training, and her outlook upon life. "Magazine work" sounds refined and genteel. A magazine comes out at intervals of four weeks, without the breathless scramble of the daily newspaper; it wears a finer garb, is presumed to be more leisurely in its production. It is a well-groomed "par- lor pet" beside its workaday brother, the newspaper. But let us look behind the scenes, to the methods of production. It is natural to think of the daily newspaper as the vanguard, fight- ing its stern way ahead, while the magazines come leisurely and elegantly behind. In these days of "national journalism" the precise opposite is true. The daily newspaper is living in the hours of to-morrow or next week; the magazine is away ahead, scouting on the frontier of next year and the year after. To shift our metaphor, if the newspaper is floating on the currents of thought and action, riding the highest wave, the magazine worker has found the undercurrents, often the deepest of them, and is months in advance of popular knowledge and thought. In^ deed, he must be. A magazine of large circulation, printed and illustrated with care, closes its forms from six weeks to three months before the date of issue. The writing of the articles, the drawing of the pictures, and the engraving of the plates is a slow 252 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN process. A Christmas number, for example, must be planned the previous winter, for the text and drawings must be ready for printers and engravers before the summer vacation. The "news" of national journalism is gathered by men and women who travel the continent and the world over for their material, seeking first of all to detect developments and changes and sound the deeper currents of thought and feeling. National journalism is none too large a term for the editorial policy of the leading magazines for women. The vast feminist move- ment, as they term it in Europe, is quite as active in the United States of America as in any or all of the European countries, and is so varied, so rapid, and so extensive in its scope as to demand journalistic training or journalistic instinct of the first quality to grapple with it. A love for belles-lettres, skill in furbishing son- nets, are no longer the prime requisites of the responsible magazine worker. Magazine production is, it seems to me, merely post- graduate newspaper work. My remarks upon national journal- ism may help the reader to see the nature of the demand upon the magazine worker who would get beyond the minor, small-sal- aried positions. The condition here briefly described may also help to account for the number of men employed in producing magazines for women. Women qualified by natural endowment and training to undertake the serious work of magazine editing are no doubt occupying positions of equal or greater exaltation elsewhere, largely because the extensive development of mag- azines is of recent origin. Recurring to the peculiar demands upon the magazine editor of to-day and upon the editor of a woman's magazine in partic- ular, we must not overlook the mercantile aspects of the prob- lem. A magazine addressed to the mass of women is like a de- partment store, with its manifold branches of trade. Here come in play the instinct and judgment of the daughter of Eve, un- spoiled by education or, rather, over-education. The editors are very like the department store buyers, compelled to get what the rank and file of women want, always in consonance with high ideals. Right here the male mind, less prone to be diverted by special tastes or interests, better able by training to keep the whole field in view, the commercial instinct more keenly devel- LITERARY WORK 253 oped, often has the advantage and the lead. In so far as the higher education truly broadens the sympathies and understand- ing of girls, enables them to put themselves in the places of their less fortunate sisters and to guide and help them while catering to them, it aids in fitting them for work like this. Whatever tends toward intellectual snobbery is, of course, a drawback in any department of magazine work. The most conspicuously successful woman editor in the American magazine field is not a graduate of a college, but of the "city room" of a great daily. From such sources have come many of the most brilliant authors of the present generation. It is safe to say, I think, that a large majority of the magazine editors were once newspaper workers. One of the most interesting and educative branches of news- paper work is the conduct of a local weekly, in city, suburb, or country. A good many young women, some of them college graduates, are taking it up, with excellent results. The reason a greater number do not, I presume, is because it usually requires the command of capital. For a girl of literary tastes, imbued with a desire to understand and serve her fellow-creatures, the editing of a local weekly seems to me one of the very best occupations. The standard of the local press the country over is rapidly rising. The advent of 'educated women in the profession would acceler- ate this improvement, while augmenting the ranks of practical literary workers in all departments, newspaper and magazine editors and writers and the authors of books. The local editor goes straight to original sources, to human nature. A shrewd understanding of human nature, a real sympathy with it, is the secret of success in magazine work, as in running a department store, a church, or a circus. We editors want representative young women as our co-workers. The right training, whether in college or in the newspaper har- ness, or in both, should make them representative. Plans, ideas, articles, must often be "tried on" a person or persons near at hand, and experience demonstrates that those who come nearest to representing the rank and file are the safest guides. How directly this principle applies to manuscript readers can be readily seen. An editor or a book publisher must have what is commonly termed "judgment" in readers, an instinct or sense for what the 254 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN public wants, in order not to lose the best specimens from the in- flowing manuscripts. A young woman possessed of the higher education, so called, and filled with ambition, will hardly aspire to seek and hold the very minor positions in magazine publishing houses. There are proof-readers and copy-holders, stenographers, clerical workers, and outdoor solicitors and organizers in the circulation and ad- vertising departments, though the feminine advertising solici- tor is yet a rarity. It has seemed to the present writer that there are places now and then in the circulation departments for college women of executive ability and resource. These "jobs " are not for the shy violets of literature, but for the pushers, who are as likely to develop in college as elsewhere. The more education, the bigger and broader the woman, the greater the chances of success. On the editorial side, too, such women are winning and holding positions of responsibility. Why may not one of the great publishers of a generation to come be a woman of this type? An effort was made to secure from the magazines, notably those for women, statistics of feminine employment. The returns were scanty. The managing editor of one magazine makes clear the fact that the relative merits of college women and others in their establishment have scarcely challenged study. He says : In the editorial department we have employed first and last a num- ber of college graduates, although they have made up only a small per- centage of the staff as a whole. There is not a grain of doubt in my mind that it has been a decided advantage to us to have college girls on the staff. I would not go so far as to say that I think all of the women on the staff should be graduates, but it certainly is a help to have some of them; and if we were about to fill a vacancy, and the choice lay be- tween a graduate and one who was not a graduate, all other things being equal, it is almost certain that we should take the graduate. I can't conceive of our doing otherwise. The editor of another magazine for women writes: We have both college women and women who have never been inside a college in this office. I fiud that college training or lack of col- LITERARY WORK 255 lege training seems to make no difference in the value of their work, so far as these particular individuals are concerned. So far as the matter of education goes, of course I believe that the college woman has better training, and, other things being equal, should do better work than the woman without a college education. While many editors admit in this general fashion that a col- lege education is an advantage for editorial positions, few lay particular emphasis upon it. Two frankly prefer previous news- paper experience: another values training in English and general breadth of information. No large per cent, of those reported in editorial positions are college graduates. Somewhat general information as regards the positions which women now hold in magazine publishing houses has come from fifteen magazines of various types, from the most popular to the most dignified. Of the four magazines for women, but one has a woman as its editor. She writes, however, of women on her own and other magazines published by her house as editors, sub- editors, and manuscript readers. Ten other magazines are re- ported as having women in one or another of these capacities or in unnamed positions of some responsibility in the editorial de- partment. One of the most conservative monthly magazines has a woman on its staff as editorial reader; but "no one ever fills this position who has not special qualifications for the work." For this position "a college education, supplemented by broad and wide reading," is considered "essential." The editor of a popu- lar monthly magazine writes: Women are employed in practically every part of our business, editorial, advertising, circulation, and business departments. Miss is, of course, one of our most responsible editors. The head of our sub- scription department, who has charge of 50 or 60 girls, is a young woman. Only four out of the fifteen magazines heard from have no women other than clerks in the editorial department. For positions of responsibility in other departments the ap- proach seems to lie largely through clerical work, such as that of 256 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN the 50 or 60 girls just mentioned. In the advertising depart- ment of one magazine for women the proportion of women to men is 10 to 7, but "the women employed are principally filing and checking clerks and stenographers." In the circulation depart- ment of the same magazine the proportion is 10 to 1, but "the labor is unskilled." On another monthly magazine women num- ber 50 per cent, in the advertising department, 50 per cent, in the book-keeping, and 95 per cent, in the subscription department. Another magazine, which employs no women in the editorial department, has elsewhere a proportion of 6 to 1. It employs approximately 200 women in the busy season from October to February, and 75 all the year round. Obviously, these are clerks. Their "help is used mostly in the subscription and cir- culation department. They keep all the records of the advertis- ing department and do the work in the cashier and book-keeping department with one man to oversee them." Clearly, too, in all these cases the larger the proportion of women, the less re- sponsible the position. Only a few positions of responsibility, outside of the editorial department, were cited: cashier and as- sistant cashier, general secretary of the office on a magazine with a small staff; head of a department, in one case a small branch of the circulation department with charge of a subscription scheme among women and girls, in another the whole subscription de- partment. One magazine house, however, employs a woman in what would seem to be one of the most important positions mentioned, to manage its literary bulletin and to look after its interests in the newspapers. Opinions as to the chance of women's rising to positions of responsibility in magazine work are varied. Two editors give no hope of women's holding any position above that of clerk or cashier. One offers very slow advance from a clerkship at $6 a week to the headship of a department at $15 for the able woman without training in stenography and $18 for the woman specially trained. Eight explicitly state that the chance of rising to posi- tions of responsibility is almost as good or as good for able, edu- cated women as for men. Five houses offer $6 as the minimum wage; one gives $10 as the maximum; one, $18; three, $25. Three houses give a different range. One begins with $5 to $10, leav- LITERARY WORK 257 ing the maximum to the individual, to the woman "just the same as to the man." Another states approximately $15 to $30, without making the maximum fixed. A third suggests $20 to $40, the maximum implying "unusual ability in management." These three houses employ women in positions of distinct re- sponsibility in the editorial department. The reasons suggested for low pay and limitation of oppor- tunity are worth noting. The firm mentioned above as employ- ing a large number of women clerks writes : The wages paid in all departments to women range from $6 to $18 a week. The average would be $8, which means that there are not very many earning the higher wages. We believe that the scale in our office is the prevailing scale in the publishing business, and that the pub- lishing scale is lower than that of other lines of business where the same quality of brains is employed to do clerical work. We cannot explain that except by the law of demand and supply. Another firm says: The opportunities for women to rise to responsible positions are not so great as for men; but in work that is confined solely to the inside of the office and does not require outside contact, women have an excellent chance. And another: While we have not yet found a woman who has been seriously con- sidered for the very first positions, I think it may safely be said that there is no discrimination, but that women would have, all things considered, practically as good a chance as men, though we prefer men where it is necessary to send out investigators. As the last two firms mention the largest number of women in responsible positions and name the largest salaries, their words carry weight. A woman connected with one of the magazines for women edited by a man writes as follows : I am not at all sure that my reason for believing there should be a man on the editorial staff of a woman's magazine is a good one, but I have observed that the most successful magazines for women are run 258 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN by men. They have, I imagine, the kind of business ability that is neces- sary. Still another possible limitation is suggested by the words of another managing editor: Sex makes no difference. It all depends on the individual. It is altogether a case of usefulness, particularly of the degree in which initiative is developed. Apparently, the field of magazine work is still debatable ground, with some women doing good pioneer work and some men giving hearty encouragement. As in other fields where business sense is of prime importance, women have still to prove their ability for the highest achievement. Evidently, they must more fully demonstrate their value in minor positions, that they may not be secured more cheaply than men. In the higher places they must prove their business sense, their powers of initiative and of execution, their ability to deal largely and impersonally with men and events and ideas. ED. INDEXING JULIA E. ELLIOTT INDEXER, NEW YORK Indexing naturally falls into two general divisions, which for convenience we may call literary and commercial. These, again, have innumerable subdivisions, some of which require special fitness and training, aside from a knowledge of foundation prin- ciples, to develop successfully. Book and magazine indexing fall under the literary heading, and are what we commonly think of when we speak of indexing. Commercial indexing, often called "systems," "filing," or some other commercial term, includes the filing and indexing of correspondence and trade catalogues; and in this day of card systems for business records, the principles are applied to various book-keeping and accounting systems. LITERARY WORK 259 That the indexing field and its possibilities are very great is undeniable, but like many another profession the beginnings have been the outgrowth of necessity, and have been very small and slow of development. Publishers have been slow to recognize the great value of good indexes, because the saving in time is to the user and not to the producer. From their point of view a good index is a direct cash outlay without a corresponding cash in- come: hence a very casual examination of a miscellaneous col- lection of books from different publishers will reveal a very few with good indexes, many with very poor and inadequate ones, and a large majority without any. We find a larger proportion and a better quality of indexes in periodicals, because they have proved a necessity to the editors in avoiding duplication and con- tradictions, and in answering many editorial questions of policy and practice. The past ten years have seen a great advance, however, and it is most encouraging that a few publishers are producing uniformly excellent indexes. The demand for trained indexers is increasing. In the commercial world, business men have been quicker to recognize the money value of accurate and intelligent indexes. Many large concerns have spared neither time nor money in de- vising excellent systems adequate to their needs, but such systems are, as a rule, local and individual, and not by any means univer- sal. The opportunities for training in these various lines are very limited. The writer has been unable to locate a single business college that offers a good practical course in commercial indexing. All say that they teach it in a general way, meaning that they explain the use of the various filing systems on the market, in about the same way that the manufacturer does, while the real work of indexing, with all its problems of the choice of names, cross-references, indication of subjects, and actual working out of details, is left for the student to experiment with and learn at the expense of his employers. It is true that it is the function of a school to supply rather than create a demand, but in this instance it would seem as if the business college had missed a great opportunity. Book indexing is given a place in the curriculum of the various library schools. The longest course in any one 260 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN school consists of twelve lessons, and the shortest of three, both too short to give a thorough training in even one class of book indexing, but all that the crowded schedules are justified in as- signing to this subject at the present time. It will be seen, then, that the training in either case must come, in the apprenticeship fashion, from actual doing, based upon the meagre instruction received in business colleges and library schools. The qualifications of a good indexer are varied. The most important is a good working knowledge of business methods, and the point of view of the business man, in the one instance; and a broad general knowledge of books and subjects, and the point of view of the reader, in the other. In addition an analytical habit of mind, good judgment, systematic methods, a capacity for de- tail, accuracy, and infinite patience are indispensable. The compensation that may be expected is difficult to state accurately, because there are comparatively few strictly index- ing positions: hence the salary depends more upon the experi- ence, training, and efficiency for other kinds of positions which merely include indexing as a minor part of the work required. The range of salaries is approximately from $600 to $1,200 per year, with a safe average of $900. The outlook, however, is most encouraging. Not only are publishers awakening to the necessity of good indexes in books and magazines, but there is a practically unlimited field in na- tional, state, and municipal records, the various publications of societies and institutions, and the extension of commercial indexing. Women with a pioneer spirit will find the work most attractive if fitted for it by natural ability and personal taste. It offers an opportunity for originality, organization, and inven- tion practically unhampered by precedent. LITERARY WORK 261 TRANSLATING HELOISE BRAINERD OF THE STAFF OF THE INTERNATIONAL, BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLICS Translating is work which appeals to the scholar. It is need- less to say that no one should attempt it who does not find lan- guage study easy and enjoyable. Next to that, perhaps, natural facility for expression is the most important factor, for not every good student makes a satisfactory translator. There are two extremes to steer between, too great literalness and too great freedom of rendering. It has been said with considerable truth that every translator criticises the work of every other. The Italian proverb has it, Traduttore, tradittore ("a translator, a traitor"), and so he is, without perfect knowledge of his subject. But it gives a zest to know that there is always room for improve- ment. The true student finds keen delight in searching out exact meanings, weighing the force of similar expressions, and discov- ering the idioms which are most nearly equivalent in different languages, though often totally unlike in literal content. It must be said regretfully that very few persons who learn a foreign tongue after they are grown ever attain to a real com- mand of the written language. Over and over one finds foreigners, men of scholarship and culture, who have lived many years in this country, making mistakes on every page they write. Can we expect to do better? It is, therefore, much easier and more satisfactory to confine one's self to translating into one's own language. This is a narrower field, and is more useful in foreign countries than in the United States, as naturally the greatest demand here is for translation into Spanish, Portuguese, or French, as the case may be. With regard to the training needed, too much cannot be said as to the necessity, after a good grammar foundation has been obtained, of gaining a practical working knowledge through every- day, familiar association with those whose native tongue one is learning, hearing and speaking nothing else. By far the best 262 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN way is to spend from one to three years in a foreign country, living in a private family where there are young people, and gain- ing in the home, the shops, the theatres, a vocabulary which is not found in books. Knowledge of literature as such is valuable, but it does not help much in commercial translating, although constant reading is as important as practice in speech. Along with the dictionary, personal explanation of obscure words or passages is invaluable. In this connection it might be well to suggest the early purchase of a first-class dictionary all in French, for example, not French-English. It may take longer to ascertain the meaning of a word, but in all probability one or two others will have been acquired by the way. A course of study in a foreign college would i>e excellent. Learning stenography and taking dictation, which is possible after a fair speaking knowledge is obtained, affords one of the best means of acquiring idiom. Where it is impracticable to go to a foreign country for this training, there are in New York, and probably in other cities,. Spanish boarding-houses where helpful practice could be had. Very likely there are French and Italian boarding-houses also. Here, however, the association can be only partial. The field of translation divides itself into literary and commer- cial work. The former is, of course, dependent upon the pos- session of literary ability. On the commercial side it must be stated frankly that the opportunities are very limited. There are a very few governmental positions in Washington and in the custom-houses, immigration offices, etc., of our ports, where various languages are used. Some firms, manufacturers of patent medi- cines for instance, require translation into most of the European tongues of catalogues, labels, and other advertising matter, but the chief demand is for Spanish. Our trade with the Spanish- American countries is increasing rapidly, and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts especially many shipping houses carry on correspondence in that language. There are also in the United States several trade journals printed in Spanish. It must be borne in mind, however, that great numbers of Cubans and Porto Ricans have come to this country of recent years, as well as Mexicans and South Americans, who largely supply this need. In many cases they have not had a sufficiently LITERARY WORK 263 broad education, and in this, as in other lines of work, it is true that there is "room at the top"; but the well-educated foreigner has two advantages : so long as he stays in this country, he con- tinues to learn, and the most important translating required is into his native tongue, not into English. The payment of such services varies as much as that of steno- graphic or clerical work. The great influx of our West Indian neighbors referred to above has made it possible to obtain a trans- lator at $40 or $50 a month. Such work is poorly done, of course; but it affects the whole scale of wages. Good translators doing general work, such as correspondence or magazine articles, sel- dom receive over $100 a month. In general, it may be said that the remuneration varies according to the technicality of the work. The translation of legal, patent, engineering, or other scientific matter, is paid for at double or treble the ordinary rates, but the ability to do such work naturally requires special study of the subject, just as a lawyer has sometimes to master a whole branch of learning in order to plead a case. In summing up, it may be said that the work of translating is delightful and instructive, but its practical sphere for American women is limited, and the way to desirable positions is long and difficult. If, however, one has the time and inclination to per- fect one's training before entering the field, one will find the occupa- tion both profitable and enjoyable. VIII ART ILLUSTRATING Three lines of work are here included under illustrating: illus- trating for books and magazines of the general literary and artis- tic type, which is what one commonly means by the term; draw- ing models for fashion magazines, newspapers, catalogues, which is generally known as fashion drawing; and illustrating for adver- tising purposes, a particularly good commercial outlet for ability in either of the two lines mentioned. 1. The training necessary for a good illustrator, writes Mrs. Alice Bar- bour Stephens, is the earnest training of an artist in drawing, painting, and the easy use of all materials. An art school gives a large variety of influences and would seem most desirable. Many of the schools now pro- vide a class for special training in illustrating. The desirable qualifica- tions for an illustrator are personality, observation, skill, as much artistic .ability as she may fortunately be born with, and a broad sympathy with the human drama. There is no question of opportunity if a woman has ability and equipment in draftsmanship; the publishers are ready for all such. But this does not come with short training. The question of money return it is impossible to be exact on. Greatness and clever- ness are not the same thing, and cleverness is more likely to pay best at first. Some well-known women illustrators may, after many years, earn $3,000; some, $5,000 for several years; a few, more than this for a few special years. They must be capable of long-sustained output, a habit of great industry, and steady health. In some feverish centres, like New York, no doubt the price and brilliancy go much beyond this. I do not know more specifically, however. A large number of the less talented of my knowledge find many little avenues for their modest work: industry is pretty sure of some reward. Skill, with character, and keeping within touch of inspiring influences, is the key-note of success. 264 ART 265 2. As regards fashion drawing, there seems to be one opinion on the part of fashion magazine editors, dealers in women's wear, and fashion drawers. One editor writes: I can most emphatically say that there is a wide field for women in fashion drawing. In our work we use about 10 fashion artists, all of whom are women. As a rule, men are not so satisfactory in this line of work, because they do not seem to fully appreciate the lines of women's clothes. Another adds: Our fashion drawings are made by 3 women and 1 man. The fashion "copy" is written entirely by women. The work is exceedingly remunerative, but the prices of the drawings vary according to the ex- perience, reputation, and ability of the artist. The newspapers pay $2 to $3 each for one column fashion drawings, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Our lowest rate is $5 a column, our highest rate $15 a column. There are very few men doing good fashion work, but any number of women who are successful in this field. The fashion illustrations in most of the large newspapers are made by women who have had their training in this country. And a third says: On our staff we have both men and women, but more women. We think fashion drawing an especially good opportunity for women. Two out of three hat manufacturers to whom inquiries were sent replied that men had drawn the hats which prompted the in- quiry; but both cordially recommended this work for women. One had previously employed women for his advertising, and the other thought it "one of the best paying lines that a lady could de- vote her time and attention to." The third kindly gave the name of the woman artist who does his drawing, and added, "I think the work is very profitable for women, as we pay from $15 up to $30 for our drawings." Returns from fashion drawers themselves confirm the opinions already given, although the estimate as to compensation varies. One woman states: 266 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN An average fashion artist on a magazine ought to earn not less than $10 weekly. It is possible to earn $50 or more per week. I should say $20 is a fair average for a good artist. Another thinks that a good fashion artist should make $50 a week or more. And the third states: A large house pays from $6 to $50 a week, and the one or two head artists get a good deal more. One woman's magazine, I understand, pays from $25 to $40 a figure, and more if they are very anxious for any particular artist's work. One of the magazine editors quoted above puts the possibili- ties clearly: If women have talent in design besides some artistic ability, they can make from $25 to $100 or more a week by making fashion drawings, as they are in demand not only for the fashion magazines, but for illustrat- ing advertisements for newspapers and magazines. Apparently, one would be conservative in making $20 to $75 a week the range for fashion drawing which can meet the needs of both magazine and advertisement. The nature of this work and the training necessary can best be given in the words of the artists themselves: To become a good fashion illustrator of any kind, it is desirable to have a good foundation in drawing from the cast and from life. Without such knowledge, success is impossible. A girl desirous of entering the ranks should have two or three years at a good art school, and, if pos- sible, an additional course in practical designing. On completing such training, one must acquire practical knowledge by doing actual work for publication. It is possible to obtain a position with a firm of commercial illustrators, and to obtain a salary of from $6 to $25 a week, according to the proficiency of the artist. In an establish- ment of this kind it is possible to acquire a knowledge of the handling of various mediums, pen and ink wash, etc., also some idea of the method of reproduction. To illustrate successfully for a good magazine requires a knowledge of the method of reproduction, of fashion, of fabrics, laces, millinery, and coiffures : the main consideration is the value of the drawing as a fashion. To become really proficient requires five or six years of ART 267 practical experience, which is obtained only after meeting the demands and requirements presented in the commercial world. The artist usually develops along lines suited to the needs of the special magazine which supplies the market for her work. Different magazines cater to different strata of society. The greater the mental aptitude of the artist to slip into the mood of the fashions and of the particular fashion editor with whom she is working, the greater the possibility for ultimate success. In the highest grade of fashion drawing the artist uses models for the figures, the result being as much like a good illustra- tion as is possible where a gown has to be so accurately represented. Good advertising comes under this head. Below this grade are news- paper cuts, catalogues, pictures to illustrate a pattern, and dressmakers ' sketches. Only those well trained can do the highest type of work: the rest must keep to the general run of fashion drawing. 3. Good illustrating for advertisements is evidently both more lucrative and more exacting than fashion drawing. Advertising work is more remunerative, writes an artist, but requires a wider knowledge, a fuller experience. It is not infrequently a de- velopment of another kind of work. Successful advertising artists earn large salaries, from $50 to $200 per week according to their proficiency. As this is the word of the artist who gave the most conservative estimate for fashion drawing, one is tempted to give weight to her figures, remembering, however, that New York prices have, as she herself says, a "feverish tendency." Another artist writes more generally: Advertising work is also in demand, and gains a high price. This work depends largely upon originality of idea and style of execution, and is more along the line of regular illustrating. It is impossible to say how much time would be required to gain a high place and salary, as so much depends upon personal ability. The requirements for the work can best be summed up, per- haps, in the words of an artist who draws the illustrations for one of the most widely and cleverly advertised foods : To be successful in advertising work, I have found that the work must be "spontaneous," and I am afraid women who do not possess this 268 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN quality have little "chance." A woman must have the sense of beauty, exaggeration, humor, and I don't know what; for sometimes the little sketch done in ten minutes takes a large order, when a carefully worked out sketch that has taken days goes by the wall. Hard work, after all, is the only road to success and "money." Keep on, no matter how dis- couraged, and if you have talent you must succeed some time or other. The money-making talent is not considered high art by true artists, and if people have ambitions for the highest in painting, they will be penniless unless born a Sargent or a Whistler. The secret of commercial success is first of all Talent with a capital T, and second, "Hustle." That able women are welcome in this field of work is evidenced by the replies of all firms from whom opinions and addresses of artists were obtained. A firm which advertises largely an in- dispensable household article writes: The drawings used in connection with are made by women as well as by men. As a matter of fact, we believe we get more satisfactory work from women than from men. Women are more familiar with house- hold matters than men, and for that reason their work is usually freer from error than men's. Another manufacturer writes: Probably there are few occupations more remunerative than that of such an artist. It is not a field, of course, that women generally can enter profitably, but the woman who can draw well will certainly find occupation for her pen and pencil. There are scores of advertisers look- ing for such women to-day.* ED. COMMERCIAL DESIGNING Compiled from information furnished by Miss Helen Loomis, Secre- tary of the New York School of Applied Design for Women. Commercial designing for women is highly specialized and really includes a variety of occupations. It covers broadly the follow- ing groups: 1. Designs reproduced by some lithographic process, wall * See foot-note, page 172. ART 269 papers, printed silks and cottons, labels, trade-marks, and trade catalogues of all kinds. 2. Designs for woven fabrics, brocades, rugs, laces, and em- broideries. 3. Designs to be executed in wood, metals, and other materials. This group includes designs for such things as furniture, jewelry, lighting apparatus, ecclesiastical fixtures, rubber tiling, tesse- lated pavements, etc. 4. Book cover, book plate, poster, and fashion designing. A competent designer should give from three to four years for training, although there is opportunity for progress at what- ever rate the individual is capable of. Her training should in- clude the ability to draw well and accurately, to letter, to enlarge and to make a good flat wash, and a thorough knowledge of the two main classes of design, conventional floral designs and de- signs based on historic periods. It is essential that she have good eyesight and a true eye. General training in art is a valuable prerequisite, and a college education is a distinct ad- vantage, especially with regard to historic ornament. No woman over thirty-five should begin the training. Courses in design are offered at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, Teachers Col- lege, Columbia University, and the New York School for Ap- plied Design for Women, which gives training under trade con- ditions. A well-trained designer begins at a salary of from $8 to $12 per week and works up to a maximum of $50 per week, although exceptional cases may receive more. She should receive $25 per week at the end of three years. There is a good demand for competent designers. A school in New York recently placed 15 of its students in a month. 270 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN MUSEUM WORK FOR WOMEN ELIZABETH M. GARDINER ASSISTANT TO THB DIRECTOR, WORCESTER ART MUSEUM A fresh field for trained workers has arisen within the last decade. The plastic arts are no longer the interest of a wealthy or exceptionally cultured few; there is a demand springing up from thousands of little centres scattered all over the United States. In great cities and provincial towns alike, women's clubs, travel classes, informal groups of neighbors, girls at boarding-school, all are eager to get together and learn about art. From every side comes the demand for leaders. At the same time, training for such leaders is being provided. A few of the larger colleges and universities provide systematic instruction in the history of art, equal in severity of standard and in academic prestige to that of any other recognized depart- ment. Three at least offer serious graduate work in the subject, leading to the degree of A.M. or Ph.D. For more advanced work there is opportunity abroad. The American Schools for Classical Study at Athens and at Rome are beginning to offer guidance for research in art history of the Classical and Renais- sance periods. To students who have taken all or a part of this special training and who wish to enter the field as practical workers, two courses are open. They may become academic instructors, and answer the call from conservative colleges which give only elementary art courses, from secondary schools (particularly finishing schools) , or from art schools which add to their practical work some edu- cation on the historical side; or they may go to the museums, the great, established central collections in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago; the younger but rapidly growing secondary centres, as, for instance, St. Louis, Detroit, Toledo, Buffalo, Worcester; and the host of modest beginners that are springing up in the smaller cities and towns. The positions open to women in museums may be classed some- what as follows: ART 271 Clerical Workers. One or more stenographers for correspond- ence, copying, and assistance in book-keeping are usually em- ployed. No especial art training is necessary, though a knowl- edge of modern languages is useful. Salaries average lower than in business houses, but hours and associations are pleasanter. Librarians. The museum library requires one or more special workers. The requisites for librarian, besides familiarity with ordinary library processes, are: a reading knowledge of French and German; Italian and Spanish enough to make out the general character of a work; enough acquaintance with the gen- eral history of art to catalogue intelligently; enough of scholarly method to estimate the value of a book to the student or to the general public. An intelligent woman who had specialized in art as an undergraduate and taken a course at a library school would be prepared for such a position. A parallel department to the library is the photograph collec- tion, which normally requires the time of at least one person. The work will be the selecting, classifying, and cataloguing of photographs illustrating the general history of art. Qualifica- tions for the post are similar to those for the library proper, save that it needs less complete library training and a more intimate knowledge of the history of art. For example, the keeper of photographs must know what authorities to trust in case of conflict- ing attributions of a given painting or how to find out the style and period of stray architectural fragments. She should, if possible, have done graduate work on the subject or have travelled. For library positions the salary varies. It should normally start at $1 ,000 for properly trained persons. The hours are usually shorter than in general libraries. Docent. The larger museums are now offering to individuals trained guidance through the collections, and to schools or clubs advice in using the resources of the museum as adjuncts to their own lines of study. This educational work is in charge of a special member of the staff, the Docent. She should have, in addition to such academic background as is required for the keeper of photographs, an acquaintance with the masterpieces in the foreign galleries and with the physical setting in which Euro- pean art grew up. As her task is to develop appreciation in others, 272 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN she will need a temperament that responds sensitively to beauty wherever found, whether in paintings, pottery, or textiles, and the tact to adapt herself now to the bewildered novice who wants in an hour "to see the best things in the museum," now to the serious student. The position makes a greater nervous drain than either of the foregoing, but affords more human interest and a rich opportunity for personal growth. It is too recently estab- lished to estimate the normal salary, but cannot wisely be under- taken on an income which prohibits occasional travel abroad. The foregoing positions are all freely open to women and adapted to their temperament. A fourth opening sometimes offers itself, though in many cases at the present time it is available only for men; viz., Curator or Assistant in a given department. The curator's task is the classifying and arranging of a special section of the material exhibited. In addition to the general background re- quired by the docent, the curator should have expert knowledge of some one period or class of objects. For this, advanced study either in one of the graduate schools abroad or under some rec- ognized master is imperative. She should know at least the prin- ciples by which genuine and spurious work are distinguished, and show some instinct for quality, though absolute trustworthiness comes only with long experience. The writer cannot estimate the range of salaries offered to women for such work. It will be seen, then, that, aside from clerical positions, there are two sorts of openings for women in a museum, one which requires general academic training in art and a knowledge of library methods; the other, advanced study and foreign travel. The library work is perhaps most easily accessible to women; the docentship makes greater demands on artistic training and per- sonality; the curatorship is probably most difficult of attainment, and requires qualities rarer in a woman, though not of a higher order than those needed for docentship. A directorship in an important museum would, at present, hardly be accessible even to a woman who possessed the necessary qualifications. In all the positions the work involves contact with absorbingly in- teresting material, and the supply of trained workers is well below the demand. IX SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING VOCATIONAL TEACHING FOR WOMEN FLORENCE M. MARSHALL DIRECTOR, GIRLS' TRADE EDUCATION LEAGUE AND INDUSTRIAL TRAINING DEPARTMENT, WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION With the rapid spread of industrial and commercial education resulting in the establishment of schools and classes aiming to prepare girls for wage-earning occupations, comes a pressing demand for teachers rightly trained to undertake vocational teaching.* Courses and methods in vogue in existing institu- tions have not produced the right sort of teachers for industrial schools, since industry demands something more, if not some- thing different, than has thus far been achieved by pedagogical training. The business employer, finding school-girls unable to adapt themselves immediately to his ways, is apt to infer that the school training is all wrong, and that schools cannot train for practical work. The truth probably is, however, that school training is right as far as it goes, but that it has concerned itself only with the formation of certain habits per se, and has paid too little attention to adjusting those habits to the practical demands of life. For example, school training in the habit of neatness requires that all waste material must be kept on the desk or de- posited in waste-baskets, and the school stops there because that is the correct idea of neatness for school-room and for home, while in a dressmaking shop the floor is considered the proper * The term is here used as applying to teaching for grades of work below the professions, the rank and file of occupations in the commercial and industrial field. 273 274 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN place for waste, and a girl who spends her time in picking up her pieces and carrying them to a waste-basket is quite worthless to her employer. The habit of neatness acquired in school through any method whatever is invaluable to her, if she has learned also the power of adaptation. Again, school methods are too often directed toward the acquisition of some one habit without due recognition of other habits equally important. A girl may have been taught to work accurately without working quickly, and to an employer in certain lines of work speed may be the one great essential, while too great accuracy may even be a fault. It is generally conceded, therefore, that more attention must be paid to training women for this new field of vocational teaching, if schools are to prepare girls for practical workshops or other busi- ness positions. Present opportunities for vocational teaching may be classified roughly as follows: 1. Public schools and classes. These range all the way from attempts to make existing manual training courses serve as general industrial training to specialized schools of trade, such as those established in Milwaukee, in Columbus, Ga., and in Boston. They include also work in evening industrial schools, in which there is a crying need for trained teachers who are able to define more clearly the aims of evening courses and to set higher stand- ards of workmanship. 2. Private classes conducted in whole or in part by business concerns in the interest of their own employees. Examples of such classes are found in the School of Salesmanship carried on at the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in co-operation with six of the large Boston department stores, and also in the Boston School for Telephone Operators, carried on by the Tele- phone Company. The movement for training saleswomen is spreading very rapidly to other cities; but the one great obstruc- tion to its growth is the lack of women rightly trained to carry it on. 3. Private classes conducted by settlements, churches, and other philanthropic organizations. More and more the aims of such classes are becoming vocational, and teachers are demanded who understand how to prepare girls for definite occupations or who SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 275 can give a vocational trend to their work by making it preparatory for schools which are definitely designed to fit for trades. The great demand for vocational teachers at present comes in both industrial and commercial lines, in all branches of so-called needle trades, dressmaking, millinery, power machine operating, and every variety of industry dealing with the manufacture of clothing, in industrial designing, in the preparation and sale of foods and the work incident thereto, and in mercantile pur- suits, such as salesmanship and secretarial work. Institutions with well-established courses in design and the domestic arts and sciences, especially Teachers College, Simmons College, and Pratt Institute, are endeavoring to meet this demand for teachers who understand the requirements of business, by opening certain theoretical courses to business women, and by supplying more laboratory practice for their regular college stu- dents. The Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston in co-operation with Simmons College is endeavoring to aid in the solution of the difficulty by establishing normal classes in its School of Salesmanship, by creating fellowships in its Department of Research for college-trained women who desire an opportunity for the study of industrial questions relating to women, and by opening its Trade School Shops* as practice laboratories for college and normal school women preparing for industrial teaching. An endeavor was made to discover the actual demand for teachers and the types of positions offered from fourteen promi- nent institutions to which at present one must turn for industrial teachers. While this was unsatisfactory in many ways, it brought out clearly the fact that the supply of educated women who have also a practical business training necessary for entering upon various lines of vocational teaching and other industrial or com- * The Trade School Shops are regular business shops, employing young girls who have had a year of training at the Boston Trade School. They were estab- lished for the purpose of enabling Trade School girls to prolong their training for a second year, and having proved successful, are now endeavoring to offer laboratory practice to women who are preparing to teach. At present there are two shops (one for millinery and one for hand-made children's garments), but two others are soon to be added, one for dressmaking and one for machine oper- ating. 276 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN mercial pursuits is pitifully meagre, and that the institutions are unable to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand, although the salaries range from $800 to $2,000 a year and over. Since the development of vocational education will undoubtedly mean that teachers will be sought in increasingly large numbers, it is appar- ent that a greater organized effort should be made to train teachers for this new field. At present those whose previous experience, inclination, and ability lead them in this direction, and who can supplement their college or normal school training with a year or two in the particular business which they are preparing to teach, will find their value greatly enhanced. It is believed, however, that the best teachers of the future will be prepared by a combination of shop work and general education, beginning very early in a girl's life, as business habits and methods are not easily acquired by older persons. Girls who are looking forward to vocational teaching would do well to seek every opportunity for practical work while pursuing their high-school and college courses. While at present one must rely upon existing commercial shops for securing laboratory practice, the preparation of voca- tional teachers may soon require the establishment of special shops for this purpose, as there cannot fail to be much misdi- rected effort resulting in loss of efficiency, where teachers are dependent upon receiving such training as they can pick up in shops conducted wholly for financial profit. Just as the model school was found to be a necessity in connection with the normal school, that the training of teachers might not be a mere matter of chance, but be more carefully directed towards a conscious goal, so in connection with institutions to which the country must look for vocational teachers, it would seem that shops for laboratory practice must, in some way, be connected with the institutions, so that the teacher's practical business experience may be a definite part of her training, and be made to serve the best possible educational ends. SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 277 TRAINING IN SALESMANSHIP LUCINDA W. PRINCE DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF SALESMANSHIP, WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION The Women's Educational and Industrial Union of Boston, because of its special interest in industrial training, five years ago started a class which has since developed into the Union School of Salesmanship. The ideal of this distinctly pioneer work is not only that the pupils shall gain training and informa- tion, but that they shall develop greater power to do their work in the world. Women looking upon salesmanship as a vocation, with ambition to advance, will command higher wages; con- versely, stores offering higher wages will demand trained workers. With the realization of how to use her resources the saleswoman finds store work not a drudgery, but a joy, and with the increased efficiency and higher wages which almost invariably result from the training, the double benefit is secured of improved service to the public and a higher standard of life and living for the workers. It will thus be seen that there is a vital connection between the business and the sociological phases of the work. In general, the aim of the course in salesmanship is to develop those qualities which will enable the pupils to succeed as sales- women. What these qualities are was determined by personal investigation of the needs of the average untrained salesgirls in stores and by conference with superintendents as to the qualifica- tions essential to success. As a result, the first general aim re- solved itself into this fourfold, more definite aim: (1) to teach right thinking towards the work as a vocation and to arouse a feeling of responsibility; (2) to develop a pleasing personality; (3) to inculcate a regard for system and to cultivate a habit of attention to details; (4) to instruct in those subjects which in- crease knowledge of the goods to be sold. The subjects taught as the natural outcome of this purpose are selected on the fol- lowing basis: 1. To develop a wholesome, attractive personality: hygiene 278 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN (especially personal hygiene). This includes study of daily menus for saleswomen, ventilation, bathing, sleep, exercise, rec- reation. 2. To give familiarity with the general system of stores: sales-slip practice, store directory, business arithmetic, business forms and cash account, lectures. 3. To increase knowledge of stock: color, design, textiles. 4. To teach selling as a science: discussion of store experi- ences, talks on salesmanship, such as "Attitude to Firm, Cus- tomer, and Fellow-employee," "Store System," "Care of Stock," "Approach to Customer," "Knowledge of Stock," "Closing the Sale," "Courtesies to Customers," demonstration of selling in the class, and salesmanship lectures. The note-book work required gives material for English, in- cluding spelling, punctuation, and penmanship. Demonstration of selling in the class is conducted like the teaching lessons in normal schools. Real customers, chosen because they represent different types, buy real articles. The sale is watched by the whole class, notes being taken of strong and weak points. When the sale is finished, the one who has made the sale is allowed to criticise her own work, then the class criticises, the customer tells why she did or did not buy the article, and the whole is summed up by the director. These demonstrations, the discussions of store experience, observations in other stores, and actual selling with thought, awaken the class to the difference between handing goods over the counter and really serving the customer. What Professor Palmer calls an "aptitude for vicariousness " is as essential for the successful saleswoman as for the successful teacher. As far as possible, the class work is correlated : the drawing is a store plan or a design for a costume; spelling is studied in names and addresses and in store English (and French) ; when the girl s are sent to the stores for samples, exercises in salesmanship, color, design, and textiles are involved. When the subject of the textile study is wool, one of the store lectures at that time is on wool or woollen goods. Practical talks by representatives of the firms interested, experienced salespeople, buyers, and superintendents, are given twice a week to the class on such subjects as "The SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 279 Department Store's System and the Saleswoman's Place in It," "How to show Goods," "Trifles," "Service to Customer." The class also has lectures from specialists on Hygiene, Vocational Training, Food, Tuberculosis, Finance, etc. The Art Museum is visited, lectures being given there on textiles, designs, and costumes. Three of the most helpful talks are given by customers. In looking to the future of the school, two things, each depending on the other, are much to be desired, more efficient candidates for training, and higher wages. It is encouraging that some of the superintendents already admit that three well-trained sales- women can manage a counter better than six indifferent ones, and that the well-trained three with good salaries cost the store no more than the inefficient six. Essential to the success of the school is the co-operation of the firms of five Boston department stores, William Filene's Sons Company, Jordan Marsh Company, Gilchrist Company, James A. Houston Company, and R. H. White Company. Candidates for the salesmanship classes are taken from positions in these stores and must be approved by the store superintendent and the di- rector of the school. The pupils return to their work in the stores every afternoon, classes being held in the morning only. The girls receive full wages while taking the training. The course is three months in length. An advisory committee, composed of the superintendents of the five co-operating stores, meets once a month for discussion and conference with the president of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union and the director of the School of Salesmanship. By an arrangement between the Union School of Salesmanship and Simmons College, women who wish to prepare themselves to teach salesmanship may now obtain the necessary training. Instruction is given at the Union in the principles and practice of teaching, in textiles and other subjects included in the course, while actual selling in one or more of the stores connected with the school gives the necessary practical knowledge of the store end of salesmanship. Simmons College offers courses in Economics. The courses are open to a limited number, to be chosen from the following classes of students: (1) women who have acquired a practical knowledge of salesmanship and desire to prepare them- 280 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN selves to teach it; (2) women who have had successful experience as teachers and who require a practical knowledge of the store end in order to teach salesmanship in particular; (3) women of maturity, with aptitude and general experience, who desire to acquire both a practical knowledge of salesmanship and the ability to give instruction in it. Experience has seemed to prove that the most effective teachers of salesmanship are those with educational background, who have done successful teaching, rather than those who have had store experience merely. The period of training for teachers is from six to ten months according to experience and preparation. The salesmanship classes begin in January, April, and October. The tuition fee is at the rate of $100 a year. The openings for teachers of salesmanship seem at this moment very promising. There is wide-spread interest in the plan, and during the past year the director of the Union School of Sales- manship has been called upon to establish two other schools, one in Providence, R.I., and one in San Francisco, Cal. A number of large cities are asking for directions in starting similar training in connection with their department stores. The work may be established in one of two ways, either as the undertaking of an individual firm for its employees, as in the San Francisco house of Hale Brothers, or in a group plan, as in Provi- dence, where several stores send a picked number of their em- ployees to a general School of Salesmanship. In the Union School of Salesmanship the normal training given fits teachers for either kind of work. An initial salary of $20 a week is the average return for sales- manship teaching as a vocation. Beyond lies the possibility of an income varying from $1,000 to $5,000 according to experience and efficiency. SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 281 TEACHING MENTAL DEFECTIVES CORA ELIZABETH WOOD TEACHER OF SPECIAL CLASS, RUTLAND STKEET SCHOOL, BOSTON Fully 7 per cent, of all school children rank somewhat below the normal average in mental capacity. There is not a State in the Union which makes ample provision for its feeble-minded. During the past half-century, however, great strides have been made towards meeting the reasonable needs of all classes of de- fectives, not only by the opening of State institutions and schools, but by a later movement towards the establishment in the public schools of classes for children requiring special training. During the past five years or more there has been great progress in this "special class" work, and the demand for teachers especially trained for this work is large. Miss Elizabeth Farrell, inspector of ungraded classes in New York, states: In the city of New York the number of openings for teachers of men- tally deficient children is most indefinite. We have about 100 classes now in operation, which we consider quite a number, considering the time we have spent on the work; but in view of the fact that there are probably 7,000 children in need of special class training, we have not done much as yet. We do need to-day about 400 teachers, and if they were available, we would organize classes enough to accommodate all defectives now in the schools. We require a teacher for an ungraded class to have had three years* experience in teaching normal children. Aside from this, we advise specializing along lines of abnormal psychology, pathology, so far as it relates to conditions found in abnormal children, and in all phases of hand- work. In Boston, where there are but nine special classes, the work has been limited for years by a lack of experienced teachers. One year of special training or experience is required, and examina- tions are held in April of each year. Salaries for special class work in Boston range from a minimum of $936, with an annual 282 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN increase of $48 per annum for two years, the maximum being $1,032; while those in New York range from a lower minimum, $660, to a slightly higher maximum, $1,300, with an annual in- crease of $40, and an annual bonus of $60 paid to teachers of boys or mixed classes. After the work in the public schools the resident teacher is most in demand, especially in New York, where the salaries range from $40 to $100 per month, with living. Such teachers are expected to teach during a part of each school day. They also assume responsibility for the general care and training of their charges. The visiting or day teacher, who goes from home to home giv- ing lessons, receives from $1 to $2 per hour, according to the difficulties of the case. Private schools for backward children employ a larger number of teachers in proportion to the number of pupils in attendance than any other kind of schools. The most important of these are situated near Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. Salaries in private schools, where special training for the work is not always demanded, range from $30 to $50 per month with home. In institutions, where teachers who have not had special train- ing are sometimes accepted, the salaries vary. Those nearest our large cities pay $300 for the first year, followed by an annual increase of $50 to a maximum of $450 or more, including home and laundry. Training, or experience, for work of the above kinds can be obtained only in institutions, private schools, or in the one train- ing school located at Vineland, N.J., the purpose of which is to afford "professional training to those who desire to teach defectives, and to fit social workers and others to better under- stand peculiar, backward, and special children/* The course covers a period of six weeks, from July 13 to August 22, and costs not over $60, including board. Address all correspondence to Mr. E. R. Johnstone, Superintendent. The Orthogenic School, connected with the psychological laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania, offers an oppor- tunity for tests and other laboratory work under the direction of Dr. Lightner Witmer. SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 283 The character of the work under discussion is such that one entering upon it needs to cultivate a never-failing patient, per- sistent, and hopeful attitude of mind, together with a sympa- thetic yet practical appreciation of the difficulties which must ever lie in wait for that unfortunate class of children known as neurotics. SPECIAL CLASS WORK FOR MENTAL DEFECTIVES* WALTER E. FERNALD, M.D. SUPERINTENDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL FOR THE FEEBLE-MINDED, WAVERLET The actual instruction of these children must begin on a much lower plane than with the lowest classes of the grade schools. It must begin with what the child already knows, and the suc- cessive steps must be very gradual and progressive. The physiological exercise and education of the special senses and the training of the voluntary muscles to directed accurate response must precede and prepare the way for so-called in- tellectual training. The intelligent use of the special senses is the basis of all knowledge. The inactive special senses, the ob- structed avenues of approach to the central intelligence, must be opened up by a series of carefully arranged sensorial gym- nastics. To distinguish and to appreciate slight difference in colors, form, touch, sound, smell, or taste, the child must, to a certain extent, be attentive, he must observe, he must discrim- inate and judge, in fact, you have compelled him to think. The ultimate aim of these exercises is to train the child to acquire knowledge from sensations. Next in importance to the sense drill comes the discipline of the muscles, not only for muscular growth and practical co-ordi- nation, but with reference to the now well-recognized relation of thought to muscular movement. Motor training, in the broad- est sense, is one of the most potent factors in arousing the feeble *From an address before the Public Education Association of Philadelphia, November 9, 1906, urging the value of special classes for defectives in the public schools. 284 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN powers of voluntary attention, observation, and comprehension, and the weak power of volition, which are the fundamental ele- ments of all degrees of mental defect. This motor education should begin with the common games and occupations of normal childhood. The child should be taught to kick a foot-ball, to throw and catch a hand-ball, to jump a rope, etc., and at first to perform large movements calling for the natural use of the various parts of the body. Ordinary competitive games, marching in step and to music, imitative drill, etc., prepare the way for elabo- rate formal gymnastics, involving close attention, prompt volition, and definite motor response. What has been said of motor training in general applies with special force to the training of the finely co-ordinated muscles of the fingers, hand, and forearm. There is a very intimate rela- tion between what a child knows or thinks, and what he can do with his hands. The importance of definite motor response as a means of exercise and of development of mental processes can- not be overstated. The kindergarten and manual occupations, the school busy work, the sloyd, basketry, weaving, etc., in great variety, are ideal applications of this principle. Indeed, we have almost no other means of influencing or measuring the mental growth of the defective. The regular curriculum of the three or four lower grades is the ultimate basis of instruction. Ordinary primary branches are taught in accordance with the modern graphic methods, with large emphasis upon attractive sensorial and motor aids to the exercise and expression of attention, observation, perception, and judgment. Compared with the education of normal children, it is a difference of degree, and not of kind. The instruction must begin on a very low plane, the progress is slower, the pupil cannot be carried so far. The success of the special classes will be measured by the relative ability of the trained pupils to maintain themselves in- dependently in the community and to earn their own living. At an early age the manual training should be directed toward the practical industrial occupations. The girls should be taught ordinary domestic work, cooking, laundry work, sewing, mending, etc., and the boys should be taught various handicrafts, like SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 285 painting, simple carpenter work, and ordinary manual labor, which will be the most likely form of occupation open to them. The teachers should be selected with sole reference to their fitness for this difficult work. They should begin the work young, as a rule. They should have robust physical health, a hopeful temperament, great patience, tact, and originality. They must be fond of children, sympathetic and kind, but firm and decisive. The personality of the teacher is the all-important factor. A teacher with the above natural qualifications, with kinder- garten or normal training and a little experience in primary work, would be well equipped. Normal training in gymnastic work and the manual occupations would be very helpful. In addition a few months' experience as assistant to the teacher of an existing special class would be an ideal preparation. No merely routine teacher can succeed in this work. THE OPPORTUNITY IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION AMY M. HOMANS DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF HYGIENE AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION, WELLESLEY COLLEGE The need is this: teachers of human race culture, who shall so inspire men, women, and children with the personal obligation to the State and to their species, of the best possible health at- tainable by the individual, that biological science may cease to be the comparatively impotent benevolence that it at present is; that through clear and kindly enlightenment the children may be led to instruct the parents, the parents, eventually, the chil- dren, both led to the physical harmony that alone can render possible the greater ends of human life. Only such teachers can fulfil the true demand of physical education, which is education for physical citizenship. The need, moreover, is specific. The human animal is virtu- ally, by weight, a mass of muscle. This mass must be carried through life, and should, therefore, be rendered a servant, not 286 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN a parasite. Again, this mass is the absolute and sole mode of expression. Eye, voice, face, limbs, all are muscle organs. The warmth of the body is produced, distributed, and largely regu- lated by muscle. Breathing is effected and controlled by muscu- lar action. The heart and digestive canal are muscles. Fatigue, rest, and refreshment are substantially muscle phenomena. It is not irrational, therefore, that physical education has had its beginnings, crude and narrow as they have been, in a concentrated attempt to exploit the more evident muscular functions. The attempt, as we all know, has been carried to excess. The fact, however, remains that the proper training of these engines of the physical life is to a very high degree essential in the pursuit of health. "Muscular exercise ... is the greatest source of vigorous bodily and mental health." This is the authoritative verdict of modern physiology. The fact is patent when we con- sider that efficient muscular function is our sole means of pursuing our relations with what is still man's natural environment, out of doors. The out-of-door life is the touchstone of bodily and mental fitness. Thus the physical nurture of the race calls for teachers trained not alone in the class-room, but in the art of human adaptation to man's most favorable surroundings, teach- ers of hygiene, in its sense of enlightened sympathy with the nature of which we are all a part. It is a significant and encouraging fact that the demand in this country for teachers of physical education is by no means con- fined to localities, but is wide-spread. The call comes from edu- cational and other institutions of many kinds in many places, and is a recognition by the teaching conscience of the country that no education can be complete that leaves out the physical basis of human efficiency. During the academic year 1908-09 the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics was called upon to fill 115 teaching vacancies in universities, colleges, state normal schools, public and private schools, and institutions for deaf- mutes, the blind, insane, and feeble-minded. For these there were but 61 candidates available, leaving 54 positions refused. So far this year, 1909-10, 33 applications for teachers have been made to the Department of Hygiene and Physical Education in Wellesley College, involving a certain repetition of the situation SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 287 Above stated. The opportunity for service in this most fertile field is therefore far beyond the deterring influence of competi- tion, except in so far as high personal qualifications are absolutely essential. Financially, the outlook for the qualified teacher of physical education is most encouraging. Salaries earned by women in this field range from $600 to $2,500, there being every possibility of the efficient teacher increasing her responsibilities, with at- tendant financial return, as experience accumulates. The con- servative average salary is about $1,100. The training which such positions demand is definite and ex- acting. By intense concentration of curriculum and enforce- ment of whole-souled attention to the matter in hand, results have been attained in students whose preparation for a profes- sional course has been far from adequate. Such a two or three years' course, however, though producing useful, energetic teachers, falls short of its possibilities because graduates often lack the maturity and broad general training that a complete college course should impart. The demand is emphatically for teachers having the full status of college graduates. The work now being undertaken at Wellesley College is a serious attempt to place physical education as a profession on a thorough aca- demic basis of at least four years of well-planned college study, which shall be so ordered that the broader as well as the more in- tensive training shall contribute to a well-rounded normal course. Especially important in such a course are a firm grasp of expres- sion in spoken and written language and an appreciative, workable knowledge of the scientific bases which lead through physical science to the actual application of physiological theory to the problems of health. Whenever the need has been recognized in communities establishing a focus of hygienic enlightenment and a real opportunity made for it, the results have invariably been most marked. Finally, it must be reiterated that in no form of teaching is personal endowment more essential than here. The ability to influence and organize means magnetism and personality. A high sense of vocation with clear conception of its meaning and ideals is here, without exception, necessary. Added to this must 288 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN be the endurance demanded by hard physical work, together with those more subtle qualifications of nervous organization which impart quickness and muscular accuracy, together with a love of and capacity for rhythmic expression. Thus equipped, a woman entering the teaching field of physical education has before her the prospect of mighty things and takes her place in the fore- front of true human progress. CORRECTIVE WORK IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION* ROBERT W. LOVETT, M.D. BOSTON By common consent the field of physical education is divided into two parts, the educational and the corrective. Some knowl- edge of both is necessary for the proper practice of either one, but in general the divisions are fairly distinct both in the schools and in practice. I shall deal in this article entirely with the corrective side of the work. In order to start with a perfectly clear understanding of terms, I mean by the corrective side of physical education a knowledge of the application of both medi- cal gymnastics and massage to pathological conditions. The practical questions which arise at the outset of a con- sideration of this problem of corrective work are : (1) Is there a demand for this class of work? (2) What should be the prep- aration for it? (3) Is it possible to obtain this preparation? (4) What is the remuneration? (5) Is it a dignified and proper calling for a young woman to follow? 1. Is there a demand for persons skilled in corrective work? I must remind you that fifty years has made a change in medical practice. Drugs given so largely fifty years ago are to-day being given much less, and their place is being taken by more rational measures, to be classed as physical therapeutics; namely, elec- tricity, baths of water, hot air, and light, massage, medical gym- * Extract from a paper read before the Boston Society for Physical Education, May 17, 1906. SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 289 nasties, exercises in apparatus, etc. You need look no further than to the prevalence of osteopathy in this community to show you the signs of the times. Again, the last fifty years has dif- ferentiated medical practice into specialties. Where the gen- eral practitioner in former days treated everything, to-day the surgeon, the neurologist, the physician, and the orthopedic sur- geon has each his field, and each deals with the special class of diseases coming to him by means of treatment constantly in- creasing in complexity and refinement, and with constantly in- creasing emphasis on physical means of treatment. Having given these glimpses of a large field, let me speak still further of a class of practitioners very largely dependent on skil- ful corrective workers to aid them. The orthopedic surgeon treats deformities and joint disease. In these he naturally needs the highest skill that he can procure to aid him in exercises, mas- sage, and general corrective work. The medical gymnast is, therefore, indispensable to the orthopedic surgeon, and each sur- geon must have at least one such helper or the partial time of one. The American Orthopedic Association, embracing by no means all of the practising orthopedic surgeons, numbers about 60 mem- bers, and its members come from many cities. Each one of these and many others must have at least one skilful helper. Add to this the hundreds of surgeons, physicians, and neurologists, and finally consider the thousands of general practitioners who are anxious to avail themselves of physical therapeutics, and you will conclude that there is plenty of work to be had. Yet there is hardly a week in the year when some one does not come to my office to ask me to send him or her patients in medi- cal massage and gymnastics, and many of them tell me that they find but little work. Why is this, if the field is so large, as I have said? Because the product is not what the consumers need. The orthopedic surgeon, for example, does not want a woman who has been given a few lessons in the technique of massage, a woman who knows about educational gymnastics and the theory of gym- nastics, yet who has had only a cursory experience in their applica- tion to patients. There are too many such now in the field. I am told that $10 a week stenographers are to be had by the hundred, but that women worth $20 a week are ex- 290 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN tremely hard to find, and are generally occupied. What the orthopedic surgeon wants is a higher grade of medical gymnast than is now educated in this country a woman with a sound working knowledge of anatomy, especially surface anatomy, a familiarity with physiology, enough to acquaint her with what muscular activity means in physiological terms, enough instruc- tion in symptomatology to know that shortness of breath means one of several pathological conditions and what these are, to know the symptoms of fatigue, and what nervous prostration is. She must know in general the symptoms of inflammation, and especially must she know the different kinds of joint disease, at least theoretically. In short, she must be better grounded than now in the foundation facts of physiology, pathology, and symp- tomatology, and above all she must be taught to use her mind and to make her own applications. There is at present too much teaching of detail and too little of principles. The teaching must in a measure be done by medical men in active practice; they have had too little share in the education of their helpers, and they are but little represented in the schools which teach in some degree medical gymnastics and corrective work. In the catalogues of all the schools of physical education that I could find, there were 117 instructors, of whom only 23 were gradu- ates of medical schools, and many of these, I assume, were not in active practice. I come now to the question of massage and its teaching. In Germany the art, as should be the case, is taught by the surgeon and in large measure practised by him. The physiology of massage is taught, and what it can do in physiological terms, the anatomical reasons for certain manipulations and the physiol- ogy of percussion, effleurage, and kneading. The technique is secondary to sound theoretical knowledge, for the manipulator knows what he wants to do and what means are at his disposal; and whether his touch be light or heavy, whether his hands be rough or smooth, he is using his brain to guide his hands and he is more likely to get results than the person who uses his hands alone. For some years I have been asking many of the people who applied to me for massage to massage my arm in order to show me their method. In this way I have had experience of SPECIAL FORMS OF TEACHING 291 many varieties of technique and methods of various kinds, but as a rule an aimless manipulation, inefficient and on the whole unintelligent. For massage, therefore, I would advocate instruc- tion and drill in the principles of the anatomy and physiology of the treatment, especially as to the reasons for each manipu- lation, and above all I would ask for massage from the brain and not wholly from the hands. I would lay less stress on tech- nique and more on principles, and never teach technique alone. 2. I have thus come to what I regard as the most important requirement in corrective work, the education of the worker; and I use the word "education" literally. It does not matter so much whether the instruction period be two years or four, and it is not of primary importance that the subjects taught cover ex- actly one ground or another, so long as they embody the essen- tials; but it does matter very much, and is to my mind of primary importance, that the pupil should be taught to use her mind and think for herself. I would not make the training a drill in the technique of medical gymnastics and massage, but a grounding in the principles on which these arts rest and an application of these principles to practical conditions. The equivalent of at least one year of practical clinical work is necessary for the proper train- ing of a corrective worker. This may not be necessarily in addi- tion to the two years of the course, or whatever the length of the course may be, but contemporaneous with part of it. I know that corrective workers can be turned out in six weeks or three months, but the kind of corrective worker that I mean will have to take a course of at least two years, and a year of practical work, half of the latter, perhaps, being contemporaneous with the two years* course. I can see no reason why this should not be sufficient time, provided the instruction is adequate, digested, and focussed. 3. Is it possible to obtain this preparation? I have examined with care the catalogues of all the schools of physical training in America that I have been able to find, and nowhere have I seen a course covering the requirements that I have mentioned. At present a young woman, to qualify properly, must go to Europe for at least a year, where, in Germany preferably, she can re- ceive adequate instruction from medical hands and fit herself to meet the medical demand. 292 VOCATIONS FOR THE TRAINED WOMAN 4. What is the remuneration to be expected? A person doing corrective work may do so in one of three ways: first, she may assist a physician, and give him all her time for a salary; second, she may open a gymnasium and take patients from several physi- cians, but only from physicians, and not treat cases on her own account; third, she may work as a free lance, and get patients when and where she can, with or without the doctor's consent and approval. The first is the most desirable and the safest, the sec- ond may or may not succeed, and the third course is likely ulti- mately to fail, although the personal popula -ity of the woman may carry it to success. Lacking, as she must, however, the support of the profession, many difficulties must arise, and the handicap is a large one. For women equipped only with the present training in correc- tive work, a large salary cannot be expected, nor is the present demand very great for such workers as physicians' assistants. It is the old question of the $10 and $20 stenographer. I know men who would gladly pay a large salary for such helpers, but they cannot get them in America, as a rule, although here and there an exceptionally clever woman fits herself to meet the conditions, and becomes worth $1,500 or $1,800. The free lance may in exceptional cases make much more for a while, but the end may come at any time, and the position is not suited to a woman of brains and self-respect. 5. It is hardly necessary to say that a woman, educated as I have described, acting as assistant to a physician or taking pa- tients from physicians, will find herself in a position of dignity and in a place of which no one need be ashamed. The work is no less pleasant than educational work, and no less dignified. It is more varied. The relation with patients is a pleasant one, and a cer- tain professional standing comes to one who will keep her profes- sional and social relations apart from each other, a matter of much practical importance. INDEX Advertising: 168-173; in department store, 176, 180; in publishing house, 245, 249; for magazines, 256; il- lustrating for, 172 f . n., 267 f . Agent: reception, Association for Im- proving the Condition of the Poor, 36; Charity Organization, 38; Chil- dren's Aid Association, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chil- dren, 3, 41; juvenile court, 3; State Charities Aid Association, 18; in- surance, 198; real estate, 196. Agriculture, 122-133; special forms of, 133-167; civil service positions in, 7, 77, 129; department of, State and United States, 5, 7, 75, 130. Anatomy and Histology: preparing slides, 77. Bacteriology: in laboratories of Boards of Health, 77; in private laboratories, 77; in dairy farm, 77, 78, 127 ff.; research in, Rockefeller Foundation, etc., 78. Banking, 188-195. "Bank Lady," 189. Bee-keeping, 129 ff., 152 ff. Biology, 76-78. Boards of Health: State and munici- pal, laboratory work under, 75, 77. Book-binding: in museum, 80. Book-keeping: in bank, 189; in de- partment store, 177; in magazine house, 256; in publishing house, 244. Botany: opportunities in civil service. 6, 7, 77, 129; in agricultural experi- ment stations, 77. Broker: insurance, 198 ff.; real estate, 195 ff. Bureau of Municipal Research; open- ings in, 30-33. Business, 168-199. Buyer, 186-188; in department store, 102, 174, 178, 182, 183, 185; in dressmaking establishments, 110; in millinery shops 115. Canning: preserving, 159. Cashier: in bank, 188; in magazine house, 256. Catering, 85, 94 ff. Charity-Organization work, 3, 36-40. Chemistry, 74-76; research in, 3; in United States Department of Agri- culture, 7. Child-saving: State and municipal, Massachusetts, 14 ff.; New York, 19 f. n.; State Charities Aid Asso- ciation, 18 ff.; Children's Aid So- ciety, etc., 3, 40-42. Civil service, 4-8; examinations, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15; opportunities in, federal, 6, 7, 11, 77, 129, 166; State, 7 f., 14 f., 15, 16, 17, 19 f. n.; municipal, 7 f., 8, 11, 15, 19 f. n. Clerical work: in Association for Im- proving the Condition of the Poor, 36; in Bureau of Municipal Research,, 31; in Charity Organization, 38; in banks, 189; in department stores, 177; in magazine work, 254, 256; in newspaper work, 237, 238; in publishing houses, 244 f., 248-250; in Art Museum, 271; technical clerk, civil service, 6, 129; clerical and sec- retarial work, 201-213. Club director, 3, 26, 61. Consumers' League : research in, 29, 30. Critic: on newspaper, 231. Curator: in Museum of Natural His- tory, 79; in Art Museum, 272. Dairy farming, 77, 78, 127 f., 141, 144, 146-150. Department store, 173-186; dress- making in, 101; interior decoration in, 105; millinery in, 102. Designing: commercial, 268 f.; of cut flowers, 128; in dressmaking, 101, 105 f., 109; in millinery, 113 f. Dietitian, 72, 83-84, 85 ff., 87 ff., 91. District nursing, 72. Decent (Museum Instructor): in Mu- seum of Natural Science, 79; in Art Museum, 271. Domestic Art, 100-121. 293 294 INDEX Domestic Science, 81-100. Dressmaking, 101, 107-113; in de- partment store, adviser, 101; head of department, 101; head of work- room, 176, 179. Editorial work: in Bureau of Munici- pal Research, 31, 32; in Charity Organization, 38; in civil service, 6; in Museum of Natural History, 79; on magazine, 254 f.; on news- paper, 233, 234, 236, 238; in publish- ing house, 246, 248. Farming: general, 124, 132, 133-145; special, 125-130, 147-160. Fashion drawing, 265 f., 269. Filing clerk: in bank, 191 ff.; in maga- zine house, 256. See INDEXING. Floor- walker: in department store, 175, 179, 182. Floriculture, 128, 129, 158-160. Forestry, 163-167; civil service, 77, 166. Free lancing, 241 ff. Government service, 4-8, 8-18, 29, 73, 75, 77, 78, 129, 130, 165, 166. Gymnastics: medical, 288 f. See PHYSICAL TRAINING. Head of stock in department store, 183. Head of workroom in department store, 176, 179. Head-worker in settlement, 59 ff. Horticulture, 128; opportunities in civil service, 77, 129; laboratory as- sistants in, 129. Hospital: dietitian in, 72, 83, 86, 91; social service in, 42-49; superintend- ent of, 71. Hotel management, 93 f . Housekeeper: in hotel, 93; visiting, 95. Illustrating, 264 f . ; for fashion maga- zine, 265 f . ; for advertisement, 267 f . ; in Museum of Natural History, 80. Indexing, 258 ff. Industrial teaching, 14, 17, 56, 58, 60, 82 f., 273 ff., 277 f. n., 284. Inspector: factory, 29, 73; lodging house, 30; medical, in schools, 72; pure food, 3, 150; sanitary, 2; tene- ment house, 29, 73. Institutional management, 71, 84 f., 89-97. Insurance, 198 ff. Interior decorating, 103, 104, 119-121; in department store, 105. Investigation: in Bureau of Municipal Research, 31, 32; in forestry, 166; of industrial problems, 29; of insect pests, 78; of poultry problems, 125, 126; of pure food, 3; patent investiga- tor, civil service, 6; medical social re- search, 46. See RESEARCH. Journalism, 227-244, 250-258; as con- nected with agriculture, 125, 129. Juvenile court, 3, 13. Kindergarten: opportunities for, in playground work, 22; in settlement work, 56, 58; in teaching mental defectives, 284. Landscape gardening, 129, 130, 161- 163. Laundry work, 85, 97 ff. Librarian: nature of work, 215-220; training, 221-226; in bank, 191 ff., 194 f.; in civil service, 6; in Museum of Natural History, 79; in Art Mu- seum, 271; in social centre, 26; in relation to agriculture, 131. Lunch room: management,84, 96 f. Magazine work, 250-258. Makers of flowers: for Museum of Natural History, 80. Making of children's clothes, 101. Management of houses: in connection with settlement work, 56. See RENT COLLECTING. Market Gardening, 154-158. Marshal: in State Reformatory, 17. Massage: in physical education, 290 f. Matron: in {State Reformatory, 17; of college dormitory, 89; of industrial schools, 41; of Young Women's Christian Association Homes, etc., 90, 91; of large institutions, 83. Millinery, 102, 103, 113-118; in depart- ment store, head of department, 102. Museum work: art, 270-272; science, 79 f. Newspaper work: organization, 227- 236; individual experience, 236-240; free lancing, 241 ff. Nurse, 71-73; in Association for Im- proving the Condition of the Poor, 35; in Charity Organization, 38; in settlement, 56, 58; as visitor, 15. Parole officer: in State Reformatory, 17. Pathology: research in, 3, 17. Pharmacology, 78. Philanthropy, Schools of, 28, 39, 44. Physical education: 'educational work, 285-288; opportunities for, in play- ground work', 23-24; in social INDEX. 295 centres, 26; in settlement work, 56; in teaching mental defectives, 284; in Young Women's Christian Associa- tion, 70; preparation for, 78; cor- rective work, 288-291. Physician: in State Reformatory, 15, 17; in settlements, 56, 58. Physiology: research assistant in, 78. Playground work, 20-25. Police matron, 8. Poultry raising, 125, 132, 151 f. Probation work, 9-13; in juvenile court, 13; department of, State In- dustrial School, 14; in Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 41 f.; related to nursing, 73. Proof-reading: in Bureau of Municipal Research, 31, 32; on newspaper, 237, 238; in publishing house, 246; on magazine, 254. Publishing house work, 244-250. Real estate, 195 ff.; in connection with insurance, 199. Reformatory work: research in, 4; in Massachusetts State Industrial School, 14 ff.; in New York State in- stitutions, 16 f. Rent collecting, 49-55. Reporter: in Bureau of Municipal Re- search, 32; on newspaper, 231, 233, 236. Research: training for, 2, 28, 32; qualifi- cation for, 2; economic, 4, 28-30; fellowships, 39; municipal and politi- cal, 3; municipal, 30-33; scientific, 3; in agricultural experiment station, in United States Department of Agriculture, 130; in bacteriology, Rockefeller Foundation, etc., 78; in biology as research assistant in mu- seum of natural history, 79; in chemistry, 75; in physiology, 78; in zoology, 78; in publishing houses, 249; in sanitary science, 3, 75; so- cial, 3; Bureau of, Russell Sage Foundation, 39; social and economic, in Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 35; in settle- ments, 61 f.; in State Reformatory, medical social, 46. See INVESTIGA- TION. Restaurant: management, 94, 96, f. Russell Sage Foundation, 29, 39. Saleswoman: in department store, 182; in dressmaking establishment, 110; in millinery shop, 115, 118. Secretarial work, 201-214; in Asso- ciation for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 36; in Bureau of Mu- nicipal Research, 31, 32; in Charity Organization, 37, 38, 39; in civil service, 6; in magazine house, 256;- in Museum of Natural History, 79; in publishing house, 246 f.; for sci- entist, 76, 78; in settlements, 59, 60 f. n.; in State Charities Aid Association, 18; in Young Women's Christian As- sociation, 68, 90. Settlement work, 56-63; training for, 3, 29; assistants in, 59, 60 f. n.; club directors in, 61; head- workers in, 59 f.; industrial teachers in, 56, 58, 60 f. n.; stenographers in, 59. Small-fruit growing, 160. Social centre work, 25-27. Statistical work: in Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 35, 36; in bank, 194 f.; in civil service, 6; in department store, 177, 182. Stenographer: in bank, 189; in Bu- reau of Municipal Research, 31; in Charity Organization, 38; in civil service, 6; in magazine house, 254; in publishing house, 245, 246; in settlements, 59. Steward: in State Reformatory, 17. Superintendent: in Children's Aid So- cieties, 41; of college dormitories, etc., 89; of employees in department store, 180, 181, 182; of hospitals, 71; of industrial schools, 14, 15, 41, 42; of State Reformatory, 16; of Relief Association for Improving the Condi- tion of the Poor, 36; of Sea Breeze, 36; of training school for nurses, 72; of Young Women's Christian Association Home, etc., 90 f. Super- visor: in Charity Organization, 38; of visitors, 35; in Association for Im- proving the Condition of the Poor, 36. Teaching: of agriculture, 131; of domestic arts, 81 f., 107; of dress- making, 56; of millinery, 116 f.; of sewing, 35; of domestic science, 58, 81-83, 70; of cooking, 35, 56; of industrial subjects, 14, 17, 56, 58, 60 f. n., 82 f., 273 ff., 277 ff., 284; of hygiene, 47; of mental defectives, 281 ff.; of physical education, 285 ff.; of salesmanship, 277-280; voca- tional, 273-276. 296 INDEX Teller: in bank, 189. of the Poor, 34, 36; factory inspec- Translating, 261-263; in civil service, 6. tor, 29 f. n. Tuberculosis work, 19, 46, 73. Vocational teaching, 273-276. Visitor: of children and girls under Welfare work, 3, 63-67, 176. State, 14 f., 19 f. n.; under Children's Young Women's Christian Associa- Aid Society, 41; of families, Asso- tion work, 68-70, 90 f. ciation for Improving the Condition Zoology: opportunities for, in govern- ment service, 6, 78. 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