THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 THE LIBRARY OF THE NEW YORK STATE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924050083017 TEE VOCATIONAL SERIES PROFITABLE VOCATIONS FOR GIRLS By E. W. Weaves 12mo, cloth. Price 80 cents PROFITABLE VOCATIONS FOR BOYS By E. W. Weaver and J. Frank Btleb 12mo, cloth. Price $1.00 MEDICINE AS A PROFESSION By Daniel W. Weaver and B. W. Weaver 12mo, cloth. Illustrated. Price $1.50 THE BUSINESS OF LIFE INSURANCE By Miles Menander Dawson 12mo, cloth. Price $1.60 THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK and CHICAGO The Memorial to Alice Freeman Palmer at WeDeiley College Sculptor: D. G. FRENCH (Used by permission of the artist) PROFITABLE VOCATIONS FOR GIRLS PREPARED BY A COMMITTEE OP TEACHERS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF E. W. WEAVER IK DIRECTOR OF VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION BUREAU OF THE BUFFALO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SECRETART VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE ASSOCIATION, BROOKLYN £)<' kh'fW^" NEW YORK AND CHICAGO MIL THE A. S. RARNES COMPANY 1918 Copyright, 1913, 1915, 1916 and 1918 Br The A. S. Barnes Company PREFACE Thebe is a manifest desire to increase the vocational content of the school curriculum. Any process of re- construction of this kind must necessarily be slow. In the meantime, the teachers can do much in their classes towards giving the girl about to leave school a general survey of the field of occupations, helping her to form definite purposes, teaching her how to investigate for herself questions that deal with the choice of a career and the methods of preparation for success along parti- cular lines, directing her attention to the vocational training facilities of the community, showing her how to utilize these, and placing before her an index to vo- cational literature. From this rapidly accumulating literature, there will be formulated ultimately some definite rules for the scientific management of the individual by the aid of which a worker may be enabled to choose wisely, prepare thoroughly and advance rapidly. The reader of this literature cannot escape the conviction that the appar- ent maze which leads from the entrance gateway to the many employments which are open to workers to a reasonable degree of prosperity is not as complex as it seems and that there never was a time when the well- prepared and determined worker was so sure of a com- fortable living as now, and, on the other hand, it was never so easy for the thoughtless to drift into such hopeless industrial situations. An effort has been made to provide in this handbook a summary of the available information relating to the conditions for admission to gainful occupations and to present in suggestive forms the methods by which workers may advance themselves. While no claim can be made for completeness every effort has been made to present a general survey of the available material. This material has been gathered from so many scattered sources that it is not possible to enumerate all of them in this place. The greater part of the material was collected by a committee of teachers from the Girls' High School of Brooklyn under the leadership of Miss Jennie M. Jen- ness and Miss Mary E. Hall. Miss Carrie B. "Wendell of the Erasmus Hall High School of Brooklyn and Miss Bertha Weaver of the High School at Montclair, New Jersey have made valuable contributions. Helpful criti- cisms have been received from Mr. Warren W. Zurbrick, Chairman of the Vocational Guidance Committee of the Buffalo Public Schools and from Mr. 0. H. Burroughs, Director of the Public School Vocation Bureau of Pittsburgh. Since the appearance of the first edition of this book, the publishers 'have been favored with many inquiries from ambitious young women for additional informa- tion concerning special occupations which seemed to attract their notice while reading this general survey; from parents regarding the relative advantages of voca- tional training schools; from vocation committees of public schools and social service committees o'f churches, for suggestions in regard to the best methods for doing effective work in behalf of the young people in whom vi they were interested. An effort has been made to incorporate in this edition the answers to the most important of these inquiries and also to add in the form of notes to the several chapters such wage in- formation bearing upon the general problem as was collected by the industrial commissions which, during recent years, have been investigating the problems dealing with women in industry. New publications which have appeared since the printing of the second edition of this book have been submitted to the young people for their criticisms and an effort has been made to list such as made an effective appeal to the readers. The publisher's rec- ords show that the book has been widely used as a supplementary reading book for advanced grades in elementary schools; for supplying composition mate- rial for the high school classes in English; as a text book in vocational schools and evening classes and in vocation clubs in settlements; for prescribed reading in pupils' reading circles and in training classes for social service work. These varied uses have been kept in mind in making this new edition, but an effort has been made to preserve the former arrangement so that the several editions of the book may be used together in the same classes. E. W. Weaver. Brooklyn, N. Y., Jitly 1, 1916. vii This is the age of the trained man and the trained woman. That is the thing that I want to write on your hearts. There was a time in this country when oppor- tunities were so great, and when there was so much to be done, that any man or woman who had a good heart and a good character and a strong right arm might achieve a certain degree of success. I am not saying that this time has entirely passed. I hope that it will be long before it has entirely passed. But this I am saying to you, that if I were a young man or a young woman going out into the world to-day, I would not dare to go out, unless I had given myself every possible educational opportunity, unless I had made myself ab- solutely master of the thing that I wanted to do. I tell you to-day, that the tragedy of modern life is the trag- edy of the half-educated man or woman ; it is the trag- edy of the man or woman who wants to do something and can do nothing well. Hamilton W. Mabie. vm CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Field op Work 1 II. Self Examination 7 III. Making the Choice 11 IV. The Pbeparation 16 V. Counting the Cost 20 VI. Estimating the Value 23 VII. Finding the Opening 27 VIII. Changing About 33 IX. Getting Along 36 X. Bboadening Out 42 XI. Matters op Thrift 46 XII. Vocational Investigations 50 XIII. v Labor Laws S3 XIV. Factory Work 57 XV. Laundry Work 73 XVI. Dressmaking and Millinery 79 XVII. Domestic Service 84 XVIII. Domestic Science 90 XIX. Craftsmanship and the Practical Arts 96 XX. Salesmanship 107 XXI. Telephone and Telegraph Work 115 XXII. Office Work 119 XXIII. The Civil Service 127 XXIV. Nursing 130 XXV. LlBRARIANSHIP 138 XXVI. Teaching 149 XXVII. Social Work 160 XXVIII. Journalism and Literary Work 171 XXIX. Agriculture. 176 XXX. Business Proprietorship 180 XXXI. Other Professions 182 XXXII. Wise Work 188 XXXIII. Index 192 XXXIV. Appendix 195 ix VOCATIONS FOR GIRLS CHAPTEE I The Field op Wobk Five million women in this country make their own living. Everyone who really counts works at something, whether in the home or outside in the professions, in business, or in industry. Of these workers, only those are successful who have courageously faced the problem that confronts every schoolgirl. This problem is: to what work shall I devote myself? Work must be more than a way of earning a living. The working day is long and leaves little time and strength for other activities. For the girl who does not find in her work itself a full expression of her thoughts and desires, no real life is possible — only a starved and stunted existence. Only as happy and efficient workers can we make our highest contributions to the world. Neither happiness nor efficiency is possible for those who are not by nature fitted for their work, or are not ade- quately prepared for it. The girl must choose the work for which she is nat- urally fitted, the work that really attracts her. At the outset she must not forget that in all lines of profitable work there is more or less drudgery and that the choice should be made with care and with due deliberation. Too often the matter is left entirely to chance. Not long ago, when 662 children were asked why they had accepted their first job, 550 or 80 per cent, answered that they had exercised no choice at all in the matter. 1 2 Vocations fob Giels They simply "took the first place that was offered," "wished to be at home," or "wanted to be with friends." For the girl as well as the boy, the field is practically unlimited. Although only 47 groups of the 303 occu- pations listed in the census of 1900 include more than 5,000 women workers, still there are some women en- gaged in all but nine of these 303 kinds of work. This is the wide field of work from which a girl may choose. However, some bounds are set to the activities of all. Everyone is beset with limitations beyond which it may not be well to go in considering the choice of an occu- pation. The blind must confine themselves to a very narrow range, the deformed must be content with one of a very small number of occupations. All of us are limited more or less by time, place and circumstance. It is generally unwise for a young girl to leave her home to seek an opportunity for doing something that strongly appeals to her in some distant city, when she does not find an opening in the desired line in her own town. The first thing, then, is to check on the list of occupations those which are open to her in her own town. In every town there are some industries that are grow- ing rapidly and others that are steadily declining. This must be considered in the survey of the field of work. In the special report of the Bureau of the Census on Oc- cupations, there is given for all the principal cities of the country, the number of persons engaged in each of the larger groups of occupations for several successive periods. In the separate bulletins for the several states for the census of 1910 will be found the number of per- sons employed in manufacturing in two successive de- cades. These figures indicate the vocational tendencies of the population in any particular locality. The Field of Woek 3 •The untrained girl who leaves school with a limited education may begin as an apprentice to a dressmaker or a milliner ; go into a clothing factory, a shoe factory or a silk mill; begin in a department store, serve as a cashier in a small store; enter upon domestic work, or begin in a laundry. Older girls who have a good Eng- lish education may secure more advanced business posi- tions, prepare for a civil service appointment, enter a training school, prepare for nursing, or take up tele- graphing or -telephone operating. The girl who has been graduated from the high school and can afford the time and the expense to secure a few years of additional training in special schools may choose from a much wider range of occupations. The woman who is unexpectedly compelled to face this problem will find her field of choice very narrow. She will be unable to enter occupations in which the beginner must serve a period of unprofitable apprentice- ship. The girl who finds herself unsuited to the occu- pation that she has entered should choose some new work for which she can prepare to some extent in her spare time before giving up the old work. Fields for Women - . I. In professional fields, as 1. Teacher. a. Kindergartner. i. Graded school teacher. c. High school teacher. d. Teacher in special schools, also Teachers of special subjects. e. College teacher. 4 Vocations fok Gihls /. Governess in private family. g. Director of public or private school. 2. Physician. 3. Dentist. 4. Lawyer. 5. Analytical chemist. 6. Sanitary inspector. 7. Tenement inspector. 8. Health inspector. 9. Trained nurse. a. In hospitals. 6. Under public authorities or charity agencies. c. In private families. 10. Librarian. 11. Social worker. 1& Journalist. 13. Manager of institutions. 14. Dietitian. 15. Actress. 16r Musician. II. In commercial fields, as 1. Typist. 2. Stenographer. 3. Bookkeeper. 4. Cashier. 5. Indexer. 6. Private secretary. 7. Saleswoman. 8. Purchasing agent, i. e., professional shopper. 9. Telephone operator. 10. Telegraph operator. The Field op Wokk 11. Manager or proprietor of business enterprises : a. Insurance agencies. b. Beal estate agencies. c. Hotels, restaurants, and lunch rooms. d. Shops for selling home-made food. e. Dry goods shops. /. Florists' shops. III. In artistic fields, as 1. Artist. Z. Commercial artist. a. Pottery maker. b. Illustrator. c. Designer. d. China painter. e. Engraver. /. Poster artist. g. Stencil artist. 3. Photographer.- 4. Architect. IV. In industrial fields, as 1. Dressmaker. 2. Milliner. 3. Maker of hand-made art goods a. Wood carver. b. Metal worker. c. Bookbinder. d. Leather worker. e. Bug maker. /. Needle worker. 4. Interior decorator. 5. Upholsterer. 6. Corsetiere. 6 Vocations fob Gikls 7. Laundry worker. 8. Baker and confectioner. « 9. Expert in fruit and vegetable preserving. 10. Poultry farmer. 11. Manager of farms or horticultural establishments. 12. Dairy woman. 13. Toilet expert. 14. Dresser of show windows. 15. Factory worker. NOTES Changes in the political status of women in many states wil make it easier for them to secure political appointments. In 1910 only 11% of the 210,000 officials and inspectors in the governmem service were women. The number of women engaged in clerical work is rapidly increas ing. In 1910 less than 2% of the employees In banks were women Large banks and trust companies are employing women and theii success will open a field in which over 100,000 salaried person; find employment. The war has brought about economic changes which have mad< it possible for 850,000 female workers to replace males in England Similar replacements have been made in America. It is the opinioi of careful English observers, that In manufacturing industries ii which work is of a routine character and in operations Involvim deftness, women will be retained when normal conditions are re stored and that in industries In which work is heavier, in whicl efficiency requires long periods of training, and in Industries li which the operation of plants is continuous and workers ar required to take their turns in night shifts, men will largely resum their former proportion. CHAPTEE II A Self-Examination Aftee carefully surveying the field of work, the girl who wishes to choose a suitable career must make a careful examination of herself. This self-analysis is not easy. The girl whose associations have been largely with those of her own age will be likely to underrate herself and her own powers. For this reason, it is a good thing for a young girl to associate as much as pos- sible with her elders, so that she may compare herself with .them. She will find that many of those who have succeeded have been just average persons and that the vast number of resolute and determined persons who go out into the world find something to do that proves both interesting and profitable. If she has advanced in her school work beyond the others of her age, she has a right to believe that she will be able to advance herself in employments more rapidly than others. If she finds herself ready and willing to lend a hand and to co-operate in the work of the home and the school, she will certainly be successful in busi- ness and happy in social relations. If she makes friends readily and takes a delight in helping along in her church and Sunday school, she may be sure that it will not be long before an employer will know her favorably. If, on the other hand, she finds that she does not readily learn new things, that she does not take much interest in the affairs of others and that she is inclined to stand 8 Vocations for Giels and wait until she receives directions, she will conclude that it will be better for her to take up some line of routine work. However, a girl cannot always tell at an early age what her later interests and abilities will be. For this reason, it is well for her to consider not only herself and her inclinations, but also the interests of the grown-up members of her family. It may be possible that she will have the same interests when she becomes older. Still, it is safe to assume that the girl who does not cultivate a liking for neatness, orderliness, and carefulness by the time she leaves school will not be valued later in the shop or the office, in the store, in the library, in the hos- pital, or in the laboratory. The girl who shows a disposition to see for herself things that are to be done and has learned to take pleas- ure in finishing what she undertakes, may be reasonably sure of succeeding in almost any line, provided she is strong physically and can afford the time and the means to make preparation. It is safe to say that a girl is making a mistake in taking up a line of work simply because an opening of- fers her the opportunity to escape from school. Girls should remain in school as long as possible. Employers do not want girls under sixteen years of age and many will not take them under twenty-one. Those who find it hard to get along in school with the assistance of their teachers will find it much harder to get along in business or in the industrial field, where no one is especially con- cerned as to whether they succeed or fail. This does not mean that a girl should postpone her choice until circumstances compel a break with school, but that she A Self-Examination 9 should take up the matter of choice after she has deter- mined how long it is possible for her to remain in school. A great step towards a successful occupational career is taken when the girl elects to study herself and the various fields of work while she is yet in school. Then, by the time she leaves school, she will know something of her own strength and desires and something also of the work before her. Business Ability Tests The employment departments of many corporations require ap- plicants to undergo examinations which are designed to test their habits as well as their attainments. A few examples of such tests are given below. I A test in habits of accuracy and ability to follow instructions. Draw a line through the 3's and e's and make a ring around each 2 and a. Multiply the number of cancellations and rings by 2 for the score. Time 2 minutes. 1 © 4 > (g, 7 5 if 9 . «• @, 9 1 a 4 3-1 B- 9 7 & e- » 1 7 {&> © 1 II A test to determine whether an applicant has formed the habit of proving her work. In the foregoing example supposing that the value of a is 13 and of e is 19, sum up the columns and the lines and indicate the totals of the sums of the columns and the lines. Time 2 minutes. Two points for each correct result. Ill The following test is designed to show that the applicant has learned to examine her work carefully as far as spelling is con- cerned. If In two minutes the applicant returns the paper rated properly her score is a hundred. 10 Vocations fob Giels Hr. Jones dictated an exercise to candidates for a stenog- rapher's position. Deducting two per cent for each superfluous, omitted, or wrong letter, compute tb° score of the candidate who produced the following . It i> noi advamague to abreviate to inucn In thie offii and it li unekskusabl loo fala to dats'caihcri checks properly we art hear to akomodate cusionera and to ahow our angiiety to win there approbation eipeeially on our anuvertury eaila and to gel then to •.aeent to the beleif that they are the benefithuariea of the bargain dayt in our calendur to if it it poeaible to aid the campanby giving, edvU you will help to increase our capitul and nake it unecnary ue to atach atliirnU to keep u» out of bankrupiy or to pay for clalaa againit ue with pronitory nolee. Whipple's Mental and Physical Measurements, which will be found In your library, gives a large number of these teste. CHAPTEE III Making the Choice When she has made a list of attractive occupations, the candidate will consider each one carefully and talk the matter over with her teachers and parents. She will find it helpful to interview relatives and friends who are engaged in some of the selected occupations. At first, it will appear that some of the lines of work are overcrowded and that it will be hard to find an open- ing. This difficulty is more apparent than real. The girl who is willing to show that she is in earnest and is ready to make thorough preparation will be surprised to find how the way opens for her after she is ready to take up work. If she persists in her efforts to satisfy her employer and to succeed in the initial stages of her work, she will find that her associates in those over- crowded grades of work rapidly drop out and leave open the way to promotion with comparatively little compe- tition. In talking over the matter with her friends and rel- atives, the girl will generally find that those who have been engaged for some time in a particular line of work will be disposed to discourage a candidate from taking it up. People see the discouraging features of their own work and only the attractive side of the work of other people. For this reason, it is well to compare the opin- ions of the workers in the occupation with the opinions of those who know that occupation from the outside. 11 12 Vocations foe Giels When she has collected from a number of different people their views of the occupations that she has se- lected and of her suitability for them, the girl should read what is said bearing upon the subject in some of the excellent books listed at the end of this chapter. The biographies of those who have succeeded will enable the reader to form very helpful views concerning the condi- tions that a worker may expect to find, although it must be remembered that those who have made notable suc- cesses entered upon trades and professions so long ago that conditions were very different from those that con- front the beginner nowadays. It must also be borne in mind that biographies generally note the successes and triumphs and not the discouragements of those whose history they relate. They make no mention of those who fail. The final choice should be made along the lines of the highest capabilities. Girls having special talents or some powers of initiative should branch out into newer paths, leaving the beaten tracks to others. However, girls who must support themselves from their own earn- ings, will do well to enter the paths in which the risks are not so great as in the newer fields of women's work. Finally, it is a good plan to hold a full debate of the whole subject with oneself. To do this, let the argu- ments for and against a given occupation be set in or- der and each one of them examined in turn to see if the unfavorable opinions and arguments can be explained away. This will mean a great deal of trouble for the girl who is inclined to be lazy, (but this chapter is not written for lazy girls) . When the girl has made the final decision and care- fully planned her preparation, she must allow no small Making the Choice. 13 discouragements to induce her to change. A change in her plans after she has begun her preparation will mean a loss of. time and money and also prevent the accumula- tion of that experience which is needed to make work profitable. "No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God," nor for any other kingdom which is worth winning. The Nobility of Woek From CarlyU's "Past and Present" There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness, in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope in a man that actually and earnestly works ; in idleness alone is there perpetual despair. Work, never so mammonish, mean, is in com- munication with nature; the real desire to get work done will lead one more and more to truth, to nature's ap- pointments and regulations, which are truth. The latest gospel in this world is "Know thy work and do it." "Know thyself :" long enough has that poor "self" of thine tormented thee; thou wilt never get to "know" it, I believe. Think it not thy business, this of knowing thyself ; thou art an unknowable individual : Know what thou canst work at, and work at it like a Hercules ! That will be thy better place. * * * Blessed is he who has found his work : let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life-purpose ; he has found it, and will follow it! How, as a free-flowing channel, dug and torn by noble force through the sour mud-swamp of one's existence, like an ever-deepening river there, it runs and flows ; draining off the sour fes- tering water gradually from the root of the remotest grass-blade; making, instead of pestilential swamp, a 14 "VOCATION'S FOR GlBLS green fruitful meadow with its clear-flowing stream. How blessed for the meadow itself, let the stream and its value be great or small ! Labor is Life : from the in- most heart of the worker rises his God-given force, the sacred celestial life-essence breathed into him by Al- mighty God; from his inmost heart awakens him to all nobleness, to all knowledge, "self-knowledge," and much else, so soon as work fitly begins. 'Knowledge? The knowledge that will hold good in working, cleave thou to that; for Nature herself accredits that, says Yea to that. Properly thou hast no other knowledge but what thou hast gained by working: the rest is yet all a hy- pothesis of knowledge : a thing to be argued of in schools, a thing floating in the clouds, in endless logic-vortices, till we try it and fix it. "Doubt, of whatever kind, can be ended by Action alone." Headings Abbott, Edith. Women in Industry. Appleton, 1913. $2. Alden, C. W. Women's Ways of Earning Money. Barnes, ^ 1904. $1. Adams, Foster & Dunham. Heroines of Modern Progress. Sturgis, 1913. $1.50. Bolton, 8. K. Famous Leaders Among Women. CroweU, 1917. 75c. Drysdale, Wm. Helps for Ambitious Girls. Crowell, 1917. 75c. By&e, Wm. D. Self-measurement. Huebsch, 1908. 50c. MacLean, A. M. Wage-earning Women. Macmillan, 1910. $1.25. Making the Choice. 15 Questions eob Debate 1. That the girl of sixteen is as competent to choose her career as a boy of the same age. 2. That a woman has a larger number of fields of work open to her than a man has. 3. That there are as many lines of work in which a woman may become her own employer as there are in which a man may do so. 4. That the girl who works in the factory or in the office has more independence than the girl who works at home. 5. That working papers should not be issued to girls under 16 years of age. 6. That it takes longer to become established in a profession than it does to build up a profitable business. 7. That the conditions of women in industry is better in those states in which women have the vote than in other states. 8. That female workers in offices and retail stores change their employers more frequently than male workers in the same occupations. 9. That women workers are more considerate in their treatment of newcomers who join their ranks than male workers. 10. That more boys than girls distinguish themselves as leaders in the outside activities of school and college. 11. That it is easier for a boy in high school to keep up a saving bank account than it is for a girl. 12. That the country cousin who works in the home enjoys more privileges and advantages than the city girl who lives at home and works in an office or store or factory. CHAPTER IV The Pkepaeation Eveby girl should consider this matter of preparation seriously some time before leaving school, so that in the latter years of her school work, she may select the stud- ies that bear upon some one line of work and put her best efforts into these studies. The girl who expects to enter another school after graduation from the high school must find out the en- trance requirements of that school and prepare to meet them, or she will lose valuable time. A high school course followed by a regular college course offers the best equipment to anyone who can afterwards afford the time for special training, professional or otherwise. Even the college course should be regulated by the choice of a vocation. A girl must prepare to enter the life that she has chosen : a girl interested in agriculture will choose some college offering a course in that sub- ject; if she wishes to become a business woman, she will select some first-class business college; and if she takes a general college course, her choice of electives will be determined by her plans for her after-college life. Even those who must leave school at an early age may aim for better things than the overcrowded occupa- tions into which the great masses of unambitious work- ers go. There are many ways in which one may prepare for higher grades of work. The girl who enters one of the poorly paid lines of work, if she is willing to use her time carefully and well 16 The Preparation Vt and to deny herself, will find opportunities to prepare for more profitable work. I recall a young girl who, upon leaving school, had to accept a place as nurse-maid. She was given several evenings a week to herself and on these evenings she attended evening school regularly and pre- pared herself so that she was able to secure a place as a dressmaker's assistant at higher wages. In due time, she had attained skill as a dressmaker and she had lit- tle difficulty in securing profitable wages. Others have advanced themselves in the same way. It requires con- siderable heroism to stick to such a plan long enough to win out. A worker is more likely to overcome obstacles in this way, if she plans her work carefully and learns in what schools she can secure the best kind of training in the shortest time. In planning this, it is wise for a girl to have her teachers help her before she leaves school. Sometimes she can find in her church, women of good judgment who are willing to advise her in this direction and to help her to get employment in which the hours of work will permit her to find time to prepare herself for greater usefulness. The girl who is employed in a place where the sur- roundings are unfavorable, the associations immoral, or the conditions bad, is not likely to have either the spirit or the energy to train herself after her day's work. Girls in such positions should not hesitate to consult older people in order to learn how to meet such circum- stances. They may go to their favorite teachers to talk the matter over, or if they have retained their church and Sunday school connections, so that they may be known to their pastors and to their fellow-members in 18 Vocations fob Giels the congregation they will more readily secure sound advice and help in shifting to favorable conditions. In planning the preparation, it must be considered that a little expenditure of earnings may prove a very profitable investment. The workers in a city will usu- ally find that attendance upon classes for personal in- struction is much better for them than enrollment in correspondence courses, however glitteringly these may set forth their advantages. However, excellent corre- spondence courses are given by first-class schools. These courses are especially helpful to those who have attained maturity and some degree of ability in helping them- selves and have had some experience along their own lines. Aside from special training, those who must mix with people should not neglect opportunities for getting a wide general knowledge of affairs. Attendance upon the lecture courses that are open everywhere will prove helpful in acquiring culture. The Chautauquan read- ing courses, also, have done much towards helping large numbers of working people to form systematic intellect- ual habits. Topics for Study 1. A description of some contrasted types of women's colleges. 2. The purposes of the trade school. 3. Advantages of a business college: 4. Occupational diseases. 5. Autobiography of a working woman. 6. Interviews with people as to the best preparation for their lines of work. The Pbepaeation 19 OPPORTUNITY. In harvest-time, when fields and woods Outdazzle sunset's glow, And scythes clang music through the land. It is too late to sow. Too late I too late! It is too late to sow. In wintry days, when weary earth Lies cold in pulseless sleep, With not a blossom on her shroud, It is too late to reap. Too late! too late! It is too late to reap. When blue-eyed violets are astir, And new-born grasses creep, And young birds chirp, then sow betimes, And thou betimes shalt reap. Then sow! then sow! And thou betimes shalt reap. Anon. CHAPTEE V Counting the Cost "Yes, Carl must go to work," said his mother to Carl's teacher, who was anxious that the boy should re- main in school until he had completed the course. "His sister is preparing herself for teaching and Carl's earn- ings are needed at home." The boy enters some line of unskilled work and by the time Ms sister gets her appointment and earns eighteen or twenty dollars a week with good prospects ahead, he will have stagnated in a position which will never pay him more than twelve or fifteen dollars. The more fav- ored girl owes a great deal to her family and can well afford to pay something more than gratitude. Gifts and loans for vocational education may well be accepted by young people, but all gifts and loans and scholarship awards involve obligations that should in- fluence them to make every exertion, not only to get the greatest benefit out of the opportunities they enjoy, but also to make some return to those whose sacrifices brought them these opportunities. It makes little dif- ference whether the costs were paid for by parents or friends or by the tax payers of the city or town : the girl assumes a debt toward those who have helped her and must pay it either in money or in service. In planning for expensive preparations for a career, the costs must be considered. In a city, a girl's support will cost from $200 to $400 a year. To this must be added her tuition and the possible net earnings during 20 Counting the Cost 21 the period required for her special training. In the public libraries, there will be found annual reports of the Commissioner of Education and the twenty-fifth annual report of the Commissioner of Labor. In these a great deal of information is given about the special schools of the United States. A post card request will bring to the sender catalogues of the schools that are accessible. These catalogues usually give the cost of tuition and living expenses. In deciding between a school offering a longer and one offering a shorter course, a good many things must be considered. In preparing for some occupations, it is possible to take the first part of a longer course and then secure some work that will furnish practical experience while the worker is saving the necessary money to com- plete the course. In such cases, it is wise to plan for the best preparation by selecting the school offering the most thorough training. When the girl is planning the expenditure of money, she should consider the relative values of possible invest- ments for her money. In choosing between a more or less expensive preparation for a career, she should decide whether a part of the money to be spent in acquiring the more expensive education might not be of greater value to her for some other purpose at a later period in her career. Where the expenses at school are from $200 to $400 a year, the girl cannot afford to take any of her time and energy to earn a part of her support, unless the employment that is offered will afford a desirable change from the routine of the school work. If a girl tries to do anything that interferes with school work she is acting against hor own interests. Later, when she 22 Vocations fob Girls is forced into competition with others, who devoted all their time and energy to their school work, she will be at a great disadvantage. It must also be remembered that profitable work is usually not found immediately after graduation from college or the professional school, and that a few unre- munerative years of trial follow the special training courses in most of the promising occupations. References Annual Reports of the XT. S. Commissioner of Education, Wash- ington. Abbott, F. M. A Generation of College Women. Cooper, C. B. Why Go to College? Century, 1912. $1.50. Hyde, Wm. DeW. The College Man and the College Woman. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1906. $1.50. Lapp, John, A. Learning to Earn. Bobbs-Merrill, 1915. Lute, Wot. Wage Earning and Education. Cleveland Founda- tion. 25c. Wilson, C. D. Working One's Way Through College. McClurg, 1912. $1. Bureau of Occupations. Annual Reports. 130 E. 22nd St., N. Y. Practical Studies 1. Estimate the cost of a trade school training In millinery as contrasted with the cost of serving an apprenticeship for the same trade. 2. Make a comparative cost of a training school course and a col- lege course as a preparation for teaching. 3. Calculate the cost of preparation for librarianship ; for nurs- ing; for teaching music. 4. From the tables in the reports of the Bureau of Education prepare for your vocational exhibit a diagram showing for each of the colleges for women in your state, the average expenditure per student ; the average cost of tuition and the average number of students per instructor and the total investment in grounds, buildings and equipment. CHAPTEK VI Estimating the Value Some girls will want to skip this chapter. It is full of figures. Those who are too impatient with figures before they start out in life will probably hare trouble- some figures to deal with later. The unprepared girl must solve this most difficult problem in arithmetic: how to be comfortable on the low and uncertain wages of the untrained worker. A careful girl with a little experience who goes into domestic work and lives in the home of her employer will be able to save a few hundred dollars a year for a bank account. The girl who goes behind a counter will not be able to make her expenses the first year and she will have very great difficulty in saving a hundred dol- lars a year after she has learned her work; therefore, such experience is relatively not very profitable. Many of these lines of unskilled work, while they are not especially profitable, may enable a girl to make her own expenses and to provide for her own support. Such work is not to be despised, for self-support brings a de- gree of freedom and self-respect that means a great deal. However, those who must accept such work should seek to prepare for profitable employment later. Several things must be taken into consideration in determining the profit that comes from employment: the wages, the regularity of employment, and the pros- pects for advancement. Of over two thousand girls in Jwenty-six department stores in Chicago in 1910, about 23 M Vocations fob Gibls ten per cent were receiving over $12 a week. In 6UcK employments, the depressing thing is not only that the chances for advancement are so few, but that the small number that do advance receive with their increased pay the envy of the disappointed ones. In connection with possible earnings, the expenses incidental to an employment must be taken into con- sideration. A physician whose office receipts amount to $3000 a year may not have so much for her own uses after paying her expenses, as a teacher has whose salary is only half as much. The trained nurse who works on private cases is under so severe a strain that frequently she is obliged to take long vacations, and so really earns less than the nurse who has regular hours and a good home with a smaller salary. A careful study of the wages paid in different occu- pations will be helpful in estimating the value of dif- ferent kinds of training. The average annual earnings of women over 16 years of age in the shirt factories of New York is $327. The average earnings of over 300 female stenographers employed in the several depart- ments of the civil service of New York City, of which the pay rolls were examined, was $954. These women secured their appointments because of their special training. Their income from their work is over $600 a year more than the income of the factory women. At the age of twenty-five, a woman can also secure such an annual income for life by a cash payment of $12,000 to a life insurance company. This means that a thorough training in English, stenography and typewriting is worth as much in this market as the annual income of $12,000. Estimating the Value 25 The average annual earnings of 401 nurses in the service of the same city is $760. In the same year the average annual income of over 12,000 women making women's clothing, according to the Census Bureau, was $398. The four years spent by a girl in high school and the two years in a nurses'' training school enable her to earn $362 a year more than the sewing woman earns. The sewing woman could increase her annual income by this amount by buying an annuity in a life insurance company. Such an annuity would cost her $7,000 in cash. Therefore, the special training of the nurse is worth $7,000. Whenever at any local point the earnings of the un- trained and unskilled worker exceed the cost of her support, it is generally found that the incoming tide of immigrants is deflected to that locality and for this reason the earnings of workers- of this class are kept down to the bare cost of living. Subtract this bare cost of living from the earnings of a woman who occupies a place of responsibility and the difference will be the market value of character; if this cost of living is sub- tracted from the earnings of the forewoman in the fac- tories in which the unskilled and untrained workers are employed and you have an estimate of the value which the market places on a capacity for leadership; subtract it from the average earnings of the skilled or educated woman and you have the value of special skill or .educational equipment. In comparing wages which are paid for the same kind of work in different parts of the country, it must be considered that the value of the wages will depend upon the purchasing value of the money that is received in payment for services. In some parts of the country, the 26 Vocations foe Giels cost of living is much lower than in the large cities. This difference must be considered in estimating the relative returns that the trained person may expect. The commercial agencies issue from time to time tables showing the comparative cost of the necessaries of life for different years and for different cities in the country. These ratios furnish an excellent basis for computing the wages at any given point in any given year from any available scale of wages in an occupation. References Reference material concerning wage information will be found in the books listed at the end of the several chapters on special occupations. Minimum Wage Legislation The distressing condition of workers in many underpaid occu- pations has led to the formation of commissions to fix wages be- low which no women may be employed. The reports of these com- missions supply information about the cost of maintaining decent standards of living. Prior to Jan. 1, 1915, these commissions had established standards for some states. In Massachusetts, a mini- mum wage for certain factory workers of $8.37. In Minnesota, for workers in stores, from $8 a week In the smaller cities to $9 in the larger ones ; in factories, from $8 to $8.75. In Oregon, for experienced workers in factories, from $8 to $8.25 a week; in stores, $9.25; in offices, $10. In Utah, experienced workers, $1.25 a day. In the State of Washington, workers in factories, over 18 years of age, $9 ; in stores, $10 ; no workers under $6. Practical Studies For your own locality, investigate and make a report on the necessary living expenses of a worker known to you as (a) a domestic ; (b) a teacher ; (c) a saleswoman ; (d) a stenographer ; (e) a telephone operator; (f) a seamstress; (g) a newspaper cor- respondent. CHAPTER VII Finding the Opening After the necessary special preparation has been made, there comes the necessity of finding an opening. In any vocation, the first employment is likely to be in some wage-earning capacity. The young doctor accepts service in a hospital; the young lawyer joins some law firm as an apprentice. This means that the worker must find an employer by the help of friends or through personal or written applications. The classified directories give lists of the employers in the city. If a school is known to give thorough training and to be of good repute, an official circular letter sent to these employers in behalf of a promising student usually brings a reply and an appointment for an interview. A beginner will receive more consideration from an employer to whom she brings letters of introduction from some of his customers or patrons. Firms employ- ing a large number of persons have employment agents to interview applicants for work. These officers are glad to receive applications and to intimate what the pros- pects are likely to be for openings. It is very much better to leave an application with a good employer and then await an opening or opportunity for a trial than to take the first thing that is offered. By accepting an unprofitable position, a worker lessens her. chances for securing better employment, for she will have no opportunity to interview other em- 27 38 Vocations bob Girls ployers during business hours. It is better to spend some time and money, if need be, to find the right kind of opening at the beginning. If she is to make a personal application for a position, the girl can not be too careful about her appearance, the style of her dress and her manner of speaking. This does not mean that she should buy unusually fine clothes for the interview, but that she should wear clothes that are neat and becoming and suitable to the position for which she is applying. Very little things sometimes make an unfavorable impression upon an employer : in- decision, lack of promptness in answering questions, mannerisms in language, and oddities in dress. In giv- ing an account of an interview with an employer, a girl stated that she was asked about her qualifications and told of the duties of the position. Then, when the em- ployer asked her whether she thought she could do the work, she replied that she did not know. Such a lack of confidence would in most cases prove fatal to an ap- plicant's chances for an appointment. If an employment agency is to be consulted, great care must be exercised in selecting the agency. In most of the cities, the Young Women's Christian Association maintains well managed agencies. In a few cities, free employment agencies are maintained by the state, but their registries include chiefly laboring men. "When young girls go to apply for positions, they should be accompanied by some older person who can judge better about the character of the employer and the conditions of the surroundings in which the girls will be obliged to spend eight or ten hours a day. Too much care can not be taken to inquire into the condi- tions under which the work is to be done. Fortunately, Finding the Opening 29 girls are taught in the schools what is meant by the proper lighting of work-rooms, good ventilation, proper heating, cleanliness and general sanitary conditions. They should remember also that their work should give them opportunities to change the position of standing or sitting as often as possible. The character of the others that are employed in the same shop or office should be taken into considera- tion. A fair estimate of this can be made by watching the workers as they leave at the close of the working day. When they are free and easy and swaggering in their manners, girls should hesitate before choosing such shop-mates. Many other things should be considered. Satisfac- tion in the work itself, a chance for personal develop- ment, count for much more than the wages. On the other hand, a living wage must be insisted upon, for by accepting less, the girl who can live at home does a great injustice to those who are dependent upon their own support. A standard wage ought to pay for the support of the worker and, in addition, enough to pro- vide for maintenance in periods of sickness and unem- ployment and also to repay gradually the expenses of making special preparation for advancement. When a girl writes to an employer for a position, she must give care to the selection of writing material, the penmanship, spelling, punctuation, arrangement of the letter, and to the proper statement of her qualifications for filling the position. Business men know that the elementary schools, as well as the evening schools, give instruction in the preparation of a letter of application, and a poor letter will show them that the student has 30 Vocations foe Girls not learned how to profit by instructions. Such girls are not often considered eligible by those who advertise for help. No statements should be made in a letter that are not warranted by the applicant's qualifications. Even if she should secure a position through misrepresenta- tions, the girl will not be likely to hold it and after every dismissal from a position, she will find it more difficult to secure new work. If the applicant has been graduated from school or holds a certificate showing that she has completed a course of study, she should state this in her letter, as it proves that she has the strength of character to finish what she begins. She should give also the names of several people to whom the employer can write for in- formation about her. She must be careful to give only the names and addresses, of those who know her and have said that they are willing to answer the inquiries of employers. She should state also whether she lives with her parents and belongs to any religious or social organizations, as these are indications of the nature of her outside interests. General letters of recommendation are not of very much value and teachers do not care to give the students such letters. - The employer wants to be sure that some responsible person thinks that the student is fitted for the position for which she is applying. When she de- sires a letter of recommendation from a teacher to en- close with a letter of application, the girl may ask for a sheet of school letter-paper, copy on it, properly ad- dressed, a letter similar to the one given below, making only statements that she knows her teacher will think correct, and ask the teacher to sign the letter. Finding the Opening 31 Letteh of Kecommendation Mb. James Monroe, Manager of the Lookout House, .Summitville, Vermont. Dear Sir: Miss Hattie Hudson informs me that she has applied to you for a position as stenographer to your summer guests. Miss Hudson has been a member of this school for three years and has won the good opinion of all her teachers and the respect and esteem of her fellow stud- ents. She is punctual in the performance of her duties, careful in obeying instructions, and anxious to do well. She is careful of her personal appearance, respectful to her superiors, and considerate of her associates. We have always found her truthful and honest and we be- lieve that she is reliable and trustworthy. As you will note by her letter, she writes a neat hand. She expresses herself in good English, and understands thoroughly the rules of English composition. She is accurate in the use of figures, and has some knowledge of French and German. Miss Hudson has completed her course in stenog- raphy and typewriting and has had a few months ex- perience in connection with a law firm in this city. We have every reason to believe that she will pleasw you and render you satisfactory service. Eespectfully yours, Harriet Bronson, Teacher of Stenography. 32 Vocations foe Girls Inasmuch as the responsible managers and foremen in large industrial establishments are continually changing, it is desirable for a worker upon leaving an employment to take with he* a statement from her superior officer setting forth her experience With the firm. These statements should be preserved so that the worker may have at all times some evidence to show that she has a satisfactory industrial record. Copies of such letters may be sent with letters of application but the originals should be preserved. References Fowler, N. C. How to Get and Keep a. Job. New York, 1907. $1.25. Fowler, N. C. How to Get Your Pay Raised. McCIurg, 1912. ?1. Hall, S. B. How to Get and Keep a Position. Funk & Wagnalls, '08. 50c. Bulletin 109. U. S. Bureau of Labor. Employment Offices, 1912. Business Ability Tests. School of Scientific Business. Chicago. Practical Exercises 1. Write (a) a letter of application for some position which you as a high school graduate can fill, setting forth fully your quali- fications ; (b) a second letter soliciting an early reply to your former letter and giving additional qualifications for the posi- tion ; (c) in dialogue form your interview with the employer. 2. Get your teacher to write to employers who have advertised for help asking for the letters of application from rejected appli- cants. Cut out the names and addresses and arrange these let- ters on suitable cards to form a part of your vocation exhibit. CHAPTEE VIII Changing About The recruit in the labor market will find it easy to get a trial. It will be somewhat more difficult to get a second trial and much more difficult to get a third trial, unless the worker has secured good recommendations from those who have already given her a trial. Em- ployers do not care to take the trouble to break into their service those who have a record for leaving posi- tions or for being dismissed. The girl who changes frequently fails to establish those business friendships that help to make work pleasant and to secure kindly toleration for her and*her shortcomings on days when she is not at her best. On the other hand, a girl develops through an occa- sional change, whether it is a change of work with the same employer or a change of employers in the line of work to which she has become accustomed. In either case, the change will give her an enlarged experience, a chance to learn new methods and to become acquainted with new people. To a great extent, this question must be determined by the character of the concern where she is employed. If a concern regularly fills its higher positions by bringing in persons that have secured their experience elsewhere, in order to get the advantage of methods that their competitors have worked out, then it becomes ne- cessary for the employes in the lower grades of work to 33 34 Vocations poe Girls be on the lookout for chances to better themselves out- side. If the concern is a growing one and the higher grades of service are filled by promotion, the matter must be regarded differently. When a girl has chosen a definite line of work, changes should be made in the direction of this chosen work. The stenographer who continues to take dictation from the same person in the same business from day to day cannot enlarge her vocabulary unless she practices out- side of office hours. A change to a new business means new experiences. Where a worker finds that she has reached the limits of her advancement and of experience in her employ- ment, she will find it best to talk over the matter of making a change with the employer or his representa- tive. Employers are usually glad to help deserving workers to advance themselves. The few employers that would take an approach to this question with them unkindly may as Well be found out by their employees. It must be remembered that the employers offering the best kind of working conditions and the best terms do not need to advertise or to seek workers. Their own people anticipate the necessity for doing this by keep- ing their friends informed of possible openings. For this reason, the business woman will find that a change in the line of promotion is easier if she takes care to win the good opinion of an ever increasing circle of workers in different lines. An experienced worker who comes into an office force may encounter a feeling of unfriendliness towards her on the part of her new associates. She may be given a position that others had hoped to win, or she may be thrown among those who have not been able to win any Changing About 35 special favor with their employer. Her dissatisfied fel- low workers will be sure to tell her that the prospects are poor, that the managers are intolerant, and she will hear all the tales of fancied and well nursed grievances that the unsuccessful workers have stored up. She must learn to listen to these complaints with apparent sym- pathy and "yet recover from them without bias. A worker may increase her value by changing. She has all the experience of her former position, readily learns the methods and acquires the experiences of her new associates, and for this reason has a greater value than those who know the routine of only one shop or office. If, on the other hand, she is aiming to win a position of trust and confidence, she will find that hei value increases the longer she remains in one position. No honorable girl who has entered into a contract to serve in a position for a definite time will leave before the expiration of that time without the freest consent of her employer ; and if the service is not for any stipu- lated period, she will not leave without giving due no- tice. When she is paid by the week, she should give at least a week's notice; and if by the month, she should give notice as long as possible before leaving. Neglect of these small things may permanently injure a girl's reputation as a worker. Practical Exeecises 1. Write the strongest recommendation that your teacher can sign for some particular schoolmate, "who is supposed to be about to apply for a position in a den- tist's office; as companion to an invalid; as cashier in a restaurant; as an assistant in a laboratory; as a private tutor to a student deficient in arithmetic. CHAPTEE IX Getting Along A eight attitude towards work implies a desire to learn all about it and a cheerful willingness to do the assigned duties and all tasks related to them. In an office, the new girl must learn the routine of the office, the character and the location of those who do business with the firm, the names of fellow-workers, and their relations to the work that is being carried on. If the business is the selling of merchandise, she must learn the names of the various articles to be handled, the qualities of the goods, the prices, the methods of meet- ing customers, and the handling of sales reports. This great number of perplexing relations in a new world will confuse the beginner. The managers will be too busy to give detailed directions to subordinates. The information must be acquired by asking questions of associates and by observation. At the outset, the girl will find that her neighbors are indifferent to her prog- ress and regard her as a possible future rival for pro- motion. She must depend upon winning the good opinion of her associates and upon using her own pow- ers of observation. The girl's methods of learning a new business will be not unlike her methods of learning a new science in school. ;She will have to learn new terms, understand new articles, study the habits of new people, and classify and make useful all the knowledge that she acquires. 36 Getting Along 37 A fine example of how this may be done in a syste- matic and orderly way is furnished by the method in which the railway mail clerk prepares for his duties. He memorizes all the stations and post offices of the as- signed route and learns how the mail is received at each place, so that the instant he picks up a package in his mail car, there flashes through his mind the route by which that package arrives at its destination. The claims of the business must be the worker's first interest, to which all else is subordinated. If the girl is engaged to perform a specific task for a given sum of money within a given time, the employer can have no objection to any outside interruptions that she may en- courage or permit; but where the contract implies that she is to give her time and energies to the service of the employer for a given number of hours each day, he is not likely to regard with favor any interruptions of the service by telephone calls or personal visits from her friends. It is advisable, then, for the worker who ac- cepts employment of this kind to consider every social claim during the working hours as impossible on account of previous engagements. The moodiness of irresponsible children in the home is tolerated; they are indulged in their times of indisposi- tion; allowances are made for their shortcomings; and they are excused when they neglect their duties, because they are "just children." When girls go out to service of one kind or another, they cannot assume that they will have the fond indulgence that has been accorded them in the home and in the school as children and ex- pect to receive, at the same time, the wages of grown-up people. Instead of expeoting consideration, they must 38 Vocations fok Gikls be ready to give it to others and to cultivate an attitude of unfailing courtesy. Next in importance to a right attitude towards work, is a right attitude towards the employer. The employer is a captain of industry. The captain of an army of workers is entitled to the loyal support of his workers even more than the captain of a regiment in a military campaign; and disloyalty to a leader in business is no less intolerable than treason to a community. Every working force in a business concern is a community in itself and the prosperity of the individual workers is dependent upon the prosperity of the whole. It would be well if all the workers knew enough book- keeping to understand the nature of the expense ac- count. They would then realize that wastefulness in the office must be paid for out of the same funds with which salaries are paid, and that every shirk who gets what she does not earn is robbing some worker who is earning more than she gets. Short sighted clerks and accountants in business offi- ces sometimes involuntarily foster discontent by per- mitting the impression to get out among the workers that an apparently very prosperous business concern can pay much better wages, forgetting that the stabil- ity of a business concern with which their own welfare is closely related depends upon the ability of the man- agement to maintain a reserve fund to provide for un- profitable seasons, for readjustments, for extensions and improvements and a thousand other purposes. Since the prosperity of a business establishment de- pends upon its reputation, a sense of loyalty among the workers demands that a good reputation shall be pre- served, that the criticisms of customers shall be met Getting Along 39 and explained, and that disparaging and damaging comments of associates shall be discouraged. Each em- ployee must take a personal interest in the business and guard its honor as she does her own. This obligation of loyalty will lead the right kind of worker to take the same attitude towards the interests of the employer that the physician or the lawyer takes to the man who engages his services. What he learns about his client in the course of an engagement is con- fidential information that is not to be used except in the course of the engagement, and it is certainly not to be used after that engagement ceases. A distinction may be made where the subordinate and the superior officers are fellow-employees in public ser- vice. In this case, the acts of the superior are matters of public concern, and the subordinate must consider her duties as a citizen as well as the obligations of loy- alty to those in superior positions. Louisa M. Alcott Louisa M. Alcott, as a young girl just beginning her life outside of the sheltered home in Concord where she had grown up, writes in her diary: "School is hard work, and I feel as though I should like to run away from it. But my children get on; so I travel up every day, and do my best." She was successful as a teacher, and no one ever knew that the work was uncongenial to her and that she was longing for an opportunity to de- vote all her time to writing, which she felt to be her life work. The father of the four girls so well known as the " Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy of "Little Women," was a high- 40 Vocations fob Gibls souled and impractical man, a friend of Emerson, who, except for the shbrt time in which he was superintend- ent of schools in Concord, traveled about the country, delivering lectures that barely repaid his traveling ex- penses. Louisa was the main support of her family for a long time, and from the first devoted herself entirely to the task of paying the family's debts. It was only after twenty years of continuous work, sewing, nursing, teaching and writing, that she was able to write : "Paid up all my debts, * * * and now I feel as if I could die in peace. My dream is beginning to come true; and if my head holds out, I'll do all I once hoped to do." From the time when her first stoiy was accepted by a newspaper, she looked forward eagerly to making a business of writing. However, she did not allow her ambitions to interfere with her humbler duties, and she was known as an excellent seamstress, teacher, and nurse. Even after she had published successful books, she did not feel above the task of writing "pot-boilers" for the daily papers to add to the family income while she was working on more ambitious schemes. Miss Alcott regarded her writing as a very serious business, not to be neglected for any personal reasons. Through the illness and death of a favorite sister and the death of her mother, she continued the stories that she had planned, and no personal disinclination, except very serious ill health, ever caused any break in her work. From the time when, as a girl, she endured with- out complaint a very trying period of domestic service, to the latter years of her life, when she wrote continu- ously for the support of widowed "Meg," and of the child of her dead sister, she gave all her attention and Getting Along 41 single-hearted loyalty to the tasks that she had under- taken. References Antin, Mary. From Plotsk to Boston. 1899. Clarke. 50c. Bolton, S. K. Some Successful Women. Lotbrop. $1. Bolton, S. K. Girls Who Became Famous. Crowell, 1907. $1.50. Fawcett, M. Q. Some Eminent Women. Macmillan, 1899. 75c. Gilchrist, B. B. Life of Mary Lyon. Houghton, 1910. $1.50. Izard, F. Heroines of the Modern Stage. Sturgis, 1915. $1.50. Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life. Crossett, 1911. 75c. Palmer, G. H. Life of Alice Freeman Palmer. Houghton, 1908. $1.50. Stanton, T. Reminiscences of Rosa Bonheur. Appleton, 1910. $3. Whiting, Lilian. Women Who Hare Ennobled Life. 1915. Practical Exercises Write as a class exercise, a sketch of one of the following char- acters, emphasizing the qualities that contributed to advance- ment: Mary Anderson Mary Lyon Clara Barton Lucretla Mott Elizabeth Blackwell Florence Nightingale Anne C. L. Botta Eleanor Ormerod Mary Mapes Dodge Alice D. LeFlongeon Dorothea L. Dix Emily Sartain Elizabeth Fry Ida M. Tarbell Caroline Herschel Lydla F. Wadleigh Sonya Kovalevsky Frances E. Wlllard CHAPTEE X Bboadening Out TJp to this point, emphasis has been laid upon the oelection of the right kind of work and upon adequate preparation for doing this work well. This may have left the impression that the worker lives not for what she herself may be, but for what she is to do in the daily routine of service. Those who are nothing aside from their daily tasks are at best but slaves to those tasks; on the other hand, those who cannot work with enough profit so that they may have some time and energy left over and above the demands of their work, are slaves to their physical needs. The first requisite is such preparation for work as will enable the girl to support herself and still be what she was intended to be: a woman useful to society, profitable to herself, with enough leisure and enough money to develop herself physically, intellectually, socially, and spiritually. As soon as a worker is fairly well established, she plans for her development in the direction of complete living. A well regulated daily routine of eating, exer- cising, and sleeping will increase her powers of endur- ance, her ability to withstand the unusual physical strains that are incidental to all employments at certain seasons, and the power to ward off fatigue. A woman need not be indifferent to the so-called fem- inine fancies when she enters business, but she cannot profitably mix these with business. When an employer .BROADENING OUT 43 was asked why he had selected a certain candidate from a number of women whom he had interviewed, he re- plied: "Her hat was becoming, rather than freakish; her dress was chosen for service, rather than style; her shoes were better adapted to the street than to the ball room; and by all outward appearance she seemed sen- sible." When a girl changes from the comparatively short hours of school to the nine or ten hours of the shop or the office, with the additional time and strain that is involved in going to and from business, she will need a great deal of heroism to overcome the disinclination to regular and vigorous exercise in favor of lighter diver- sions, to cultivate an appetite for wholesome and sub- stantial meals, and to form regular habits of sleeping, in spite of all sorts of invitations to social functions. This will mean self-denial; but that is just what everyone in business or professional life has been com- pelled to pay for any success that was worth while. The working girl will find that her employer is almost wholly ignorant of the popular fiction of the day, that he has little time to ponder over the fashion pages or the sporting columns of the daily paper, but that he culti- vates an interest in the greater problems of the business world and questions of social and governmental reform. If she wants to fit herself into the atmosphere of this new world, she will plan for herself courses of reading, with reference to her employment as well as for mere en- tertainment. Neither the performance of the assigned daily duties, nor study for intellectual advancement will completely satisfy a normal woman. She will want to do something for others outside of her regular employments. Fortu- 44 Vocations fob Gibls nately, the opportunities for doing this are open on every hand — opportunities for personal service, for so- cial service, and for leadership in organized welfare work in connection with shops and offices. Sooner or later, she will find that woman's value is not estimated by what she has acquired in the way of knowledge or accomplishments or skill, but by her character; and that this is the sum of her continued self-denials, of her keen judgments of herself, and of a constant daily squaring of herself with her obligations of whatsoever kind. After all is said and done, she will see that few of the ambitions of men and women are ever fully realized; that the buoyant hopefulness upon which so much of the value of men and women depends can be retained only through their spiritual aspirations; and that it will always prove true as it has proved true in the past, that the best corrective for the deadening tendencies of the long continued daily routine of em- ployments is to be found in cultivating the spiritual re- lations through the active participation in the work of religious organizations. REFEBENCES Black, Hugh. Practice of Self-Culture. Macmlllan, 1904. 50c. Emerson, Harrington. The Twelve Principles of Efficiency. Eng. Mag., 1912. $2. Fisher, Irving. How to Live. 1915. Goldmark, J. Fatigue and Industry. Sage Foundation, 1912. $3.50. Qulick, L. H. The Efficient Life. Doubleday, 1907. $1.20. Hamerton, P. 0. The Intellectual Life. Little, Brown & Co. $1. Hough, Emerson. Getting the Wrong Start. 1915. UUnsterberg, H. Vocations and Learning. St. Louis, 1912. $1.25. Tolman, W. H., and Outhrie, A. W. Hygiene for the Worker. Amer. Book Co., 1912. 50c. Pritchard, It. T., and Turkington, drace. Stories of Thrift 1915. Broadening Out 45 Popp, F. O. Autobiography of a Working Woman. Browne, 1913. S1.25. Wilson, C. D. Making the Most of Ourselves. McClurg, 1909. $1. Practical Exercises 1. Review the number of times during a week In which you have allowed your plans or opinions to be changed by others. 2. Formulate the reason why you are interested in some studies more than in others. 3. Make a list of the books or magazine articles that have, in- fluenced you and specify in what way they have done so. 4. What special accomplishments have you that will Influence others to desire your acquaintance? 5. If you are below the normal weight, size, or physical strength for your age, make a plan for correcting the deficiency. 6. Make a list of the helpful and stimulating social, athletic, musical, organizations and church societies to which you may be- long and put down in order for each (a) the object, (b) the ex- penses to members, (c) the time required for participation, (d) the opportunities offered for helpful service, (e) the advantages to you from membership. CHAPTEE XI Mattees of Theift Eveby worker begins in the servant class. In the homes, offices, shops, and factories, these servants are told exactly what they are to do and watched until they do it; they are rarely encouraged to look beyond the work of the hour and to plan for themselves or for others and are not often given a share in the interests and re- sponsibilities of employers. After years of drudgery, they are replaced by younger servants, and, having learned nothing from their work, they are then eligible only for even lower occupations. This is the result of bad management. The way to avoid such a situation is through the practice of thrift. Satisfactory service in the lower positions is the first step towards this end. Then the worker must study her resources in mental powers, time, and earnings, just as the business man pores over the figures repre- senting his capital, and she must plan so as to use them to the very best advantage. By managing her own af- fairs wisely, she will train herself for responsibility in the affairs of others. The girl who learns to plan and manage for herself may expect to be given a position in which she will plan and manage for others. Thrift is, in this way, a preparation for advance- ment. Then, too, with the increased leisure, the health, and the spare money that are gained by careful plan- ning, the girl can get the mental development necessary for success and the means to take advantage of oppor- 46 Matters of Thrift 47 tunities for improvement. Thrift is not really de- privation. The thrifty girl has all the advantages of self-denial, and at the same time, has more than her extravagant friends. By denying herself the cheap baubles that cost so much in the aggregate and mean so little in the end, she secures money for things that are really worth while. The girl with a small bank account can invest money in herself: she can take evening courses, join a gymnasium club, take a much needed vacation in the hot months, or spend time and carfare looking for the best possible position. She can afford to choose between work that pays poorly at first and offers opportunities for advancement and the development of her talents, and well paid work that teaches her nothing and offers her no chance to raise her earning power. Few girls realize how easy it is to save money. The postal savings banks will accept the smallest amounts. Deposits may be made at any branch office at any time. Small deposits, if made regularly, accumulate rapidly. Many small indulgences, candy, sodas, cheap jewelry, and fancy neckwear count up to amazingly large sums in the course of a year. The money saved on these alone will give many a girl the independence neces- sary for success in her work. The secret of thrift is not in self-denial, but in planning. The thrifty girl studies values. Her time and health and money are precious capital; she knows that she can buy success and happiness with them if she invests them wisely. She will not spend a moment of time or a cent of money on the things that do not give her some return. She knows that most of the cheap trifles are dear at any price. She knows that 48 Vocations fob Gielb other things, the care of a good doctor and a dentist, fresh air and exercise, are cheap at any price. She cannot afford candy and sodas and fancy clothing, but she has always enough money for a light, well- ventilated room, good board, an all-wool coat or a well tailored suit. She seeks recreation that will rest her and give her pleasant memories without draining off the energy and enthusiasm that she owes to her work. She is never too tired nor too poor to respond to op- portunities for advancement. Her neighbors watch her progress, sigh, and call her a "lucky girl." ,She knows that her luck lies in planning her life thriftily. An Experiment in Thrift Twenty girls in the stenographers' room of a New York office, exchanging confidences one day, agreed that it was impossible to save small sums of money. "If I had a bank account to begin with," said one, "I'm sure I could add a dollar a week." "Yes," said another, "when I got a raise from $8 to $9 a week, I thought surely I could save the extra dollar, but somehow it disappears like the rest." One of the girls suggested that they make an agree- ment to save one dollar a week apiece, and give the money to the cashier to keep for them. The head stenographer thought out an improvement on this plan. They were to draw numbers from one to twenty. On the first pay-day, they would each give one dollar to the girl with number one; the second week, to number two, and so on. At the end of twenty weeks, each girl would have a small bank account of twenty dol- lars. Matters of thriit 49 "It worked fine," said one of the girls. "Of course, it was hard work for some of us, but we found that keeping account of our expenses helped us to save. Then, after we had the money, we had to save it, be- cause we really owed it to the other girls. And it seemed like so much money, that we wanted to put it in the bank, or spend it for something worth while. One of the girls used hers for an evening course, and another bought a good winter coat that will last for three years, instead of the cheap ones she buys every year. When the twenty weeks was up, we began again, and now we are all saving a dollar a week, and some of us even add a little now and then to our bank accounts." Practical Exercises 1. Find out from a building and loan association how much must be deposited weekly to pay for a $1500 cottage at the end of ten years. 3. Calculate the value of a savings bank deposit of $2.00 a week at the end of ten years, if interest is computed semi-annually at 4^J>. 3. Find out through a life insurance company for what amount a person can secure an endowment policy, payable in fifteen years, by beginning to pay $20.00 semi-annually at the age of twenty. CHAPTEK XII Vocational Investigations The classes in biology in the high schools study the life histories of plants and animals; this enables the student to understand their economic values and relations, and helps him to learn how the higher forms of life have been developed out of the lower forms. In the natural history collections, expensive exhibits are likewise arranged for the same purposes. This suggests a useful and an interesting method of securing industrial information. The vocation club of a girls' school may study vocations and prepare ex- hibits of vocational histories, just as the science clubs make investigations in their respective fields. The industrial record of a wage earner should in- clude information concerning her physical and educa- tional equipment, and her social experiences at the time of going to work; methods of finding employ- ment ; nature of tbo work which was done in successive employments; the hours of work and rates of pay in each; the reasons for changing from one to another, and the continuation schools attended for securing special training. These records will have additional value if the names and addresses of employers are given, and a statement is included of the methods and tests which are used by employers in selecting workers. These records should be arranged on uniform cards and indexed by occupations and firms. In the course 50 Vocational Investigations 51 of a few terms, a school could, through the accumula- tion of these reports from students, acquire an index to all the vocational opportunities which are open to those who have to seek employment, and definite infor- mation regarding the treatment which particular employers accord to their workers. Investigations of this kind will give to students a training which may prove valuable. The retail mer- chants need assistants who know how to secure in- formation concerning the standing of those customers who seek credit; the real estate manager wants to know the character of prospective tenants for an apartment; the boarding house mistress wants to know how to determine the standing of those who apply for admission to her home. It requires skill and diplo- macy to secure information of this kind. A collection of the tests used by employers in se- lecting workers will prove as helpful to a school as a collection of college examination papers for those who seek admission to college. One employer who was interviewed gave this inter- esting experience. He had advertised for a girl over sixteen years of age, to act as assistant cashier, asking applicants to state age and school grades attained. He received thirty-nine replies; and of these, thirty- two were not considered, either because by failing to state their ages and school grades they showed that they had not learned to read with care, or because by the writing of their letters they gave evidence that they had never learned the art of taking pains with their work. To one of the others a post card was sent, asking the applicant to call at a stated time. She came a 53 "Vocations for Gikls day late without any satisfactory explanation. She was rejected because she was not prompt in meeting business engagements. The next one to appear had been working at three different places within a year; could give no satis- factory reason for changing about, and was, therefore, rejected. The girl who was finally selected was chosen because, by bringing her mother with her, she showed that some grown up person would be responsible for her; and because she brought with her a school report card which was evidence that she had performed her school work with diligence and satisfaction to her teachers, and that she took pride in the record which she had made. An estimate of the relative liability to accident in different industries may be formed by examining the tables of charges for insurance. In a table issued by one company the rates jor insuring window cleaners is thirty times the rates for insuring bookkeepers, and one would infer that accidents in the steam laundries occur three times as often as accidents in hand laundries. Employment is always more stable in those industries which are prosperous. An estimate of the relative pros- perity can be formed by consulting the census bulletins of manufacturing of which one is issued for each of the states. If the added value of the manufactured product less the cost of wages, salaries, and raw materials is a constantly increasing percentage of the invested capital, it is safe to assume that the industry is prosperous and can afford to pay for a high grade of efficiency. CHAPTEK XIII Laboe Laws Many of the progressive states have passed laws reg- ulating the conditions under which women and minors may be employed. Even though these laws may not be on the statute books of her own state, a girl may be sure that it will be unwise for her to accept a position in a factory that does not fulfill these con- ditions. These laws are not always enforced, and girls should know what the restrictions are, and insist upon the observance of these legal guarantees. The pro- visions of the law in New York are as follows: No child under the age of fourteen shall be per- mitted to work in connection with any factory or busi- ness establishment in the state. No child between the ages of fourteen and sixteen shall be permitted to work unless an employment certificate shall have been filed in the office of the employer of such child. Employ- ment certificates can be secured from the board of health, by presenting birth certificate, or other evi- dence that the child is at least fourteen years old, or a school record signed by the principal of the school. This record must certify that the applicant has regu- larly attended school for not less than 130 days during the twelve months next preceding his or her fourteenth birthday, or during the twelve months next preceding the application for such school record, and is able to read and write simple sentences in the English lan- guage, and has received during such period, instruc- 53 54 Vocations for Gikls tion in reading, spelling, writing, English grammar and geography, and is familiar with the fundamental operations of arithmetic up to and including frac- tions. No child under the age of sixteen shall be permitted to work in connection with any factory of this state before eight o'clock in the morning or after five o'clock in the evening of any day, or for more than eight hours in any one day, or more than six days in any week; and no child under the age of sixteen shall be permitted to work in connection with any business es- tablishment before eight o'clock in the morning, or after seven o'clock in the evening of any one day, or more than fifty-four hours in any one week, or more than six days in a week. No girl or woman shall be permitted to work in anj factory of this state before six o'clock in the morning, or after nine o'clock in the evening of any day, or more than six days, or fifty-four hours, in any one week, or for more than nine hours in any one day; except that a female may work more than nine hours a day regu- larly, in not to exceed five days a week, in order to make a short day or holiday of one of the six working days of the week; irregularly, in not to exceed three days a week, provided that no such person shall be permitted to work more than ten hours in any one day, or more than fifty-four hours in any one week. . No female worker between sixteen and twenty-one years of age shall be permitted to work in connection with any business establishment more than sixty hours in any one week, or more than ten hours in any one day, unless for the purpose of making a shorter work- day of some one day of the week; or before seven o'clock Labob Laws 55 in the morning or after ten o'clock in the evening of any day. This selection does not apply to girls six- teen years and upward between the eighteenth and twenty-fourth of December. In each factory, at least sixty minutes shall be al- lowed for the noon-day meal. In each mercantile es- tablishment, not less than forty-five minutes shall be allowed for the noon-day meal of employees. When- ever employees in either factory or mercantile estab- lishment are permitted to work after seven o'clock in the evening, they should be allowed at least twenty minutes to obtain supper before seven o'clock. Wherever women are employed, suitable and proper washrooms or emergency rooms shall be provided for their use and maintained in proper condition. Seats shall be maintained in mercantile establish- ments for the use of female employees to the number of at least one seat for every three females employed, and the use thereof shall be allowed at such times and to such extent as may be necessary for the preserva- tion of their health. All vats, pans, saws, planes, cogs, gearing, belting, shafting, set-screws and machinery of every descrip- tion shall be properly guarded. No person shall re- move or make ineffective any safeguard around or at- tached to machinery. All machinery creating dust and impurities shall be equipped with proper hoods and pipes and such pipes shall be connected to an exhaust fan of sufficient capacity and power to remove such dust or impurities; such fan shall be kept .running constantly while machinery is in use. 56 Vocations foe Gikls Such fire escapes as shall be deemed necessary by the commissioner of labor shall be provided on the outside of every factory in this state consisting of three or more stories in height. The walls and ceilings of each workroom shall be lime washed or painted, when it will be conducive to the health or cleanliness of the persons working therein. Moors shall be maintained in a safe condition and shall be kept clean and sanitary at all times. Suitable re- ceptacles shall be provided for the storage of waste and refuse; such receptacles shall be maintained in a sanitary condition. The owner, agent or lessee of a factory shall provide, in each workroom thereof, proper and sufficient means of ventilation; if excessive heat be created, or if steam, gases, vapors, dust or other impurities that may be injurious to health be generated in the course of the manufacturing process carried on therein, the room must be ventilated in such a manner as to render them harmless, so far as it is practicable. Pkactical Studies 1. Find out the restrictions of the labor laws of your own state. 2. Find out the headquarters of the bureau of fac- tory inspection of your, state, and learn how to report improper conditions to this bureau. 3. Describe the dangers to society from goods manu- factured or finished for the market in dwelling houses. 4. Describe the evils of child labor in canneries and food-preserving establishments. 5. Find the location of the office of the Board of Health of your city where "working papers" are issued. OCCUPATIONS CHAPTER XIV / Factoky Woek. The census of 1900 shows that there are in New York City alone 187 different kinds of manufacturing in- dustries in which women are employed. The clothing industry gives employment to 10,000 women, earning $4 to $7 a week, with an occasional one reaching $11. In factories where lace curtains are made, the wages are from $7 to $9 a week for experienced workers; in twine factories, $4 to $7; in paper box factories, $4 to $12. Exceptional workers in all lines receive high wages, but the average of 147,454 women in New York City is only $321.92 a year. These figures show that while there are a very large number of openings for women in manufacturing work, the great majority of workers do not earn their living and only a few ever reach positions in which they can earn more than the expenses of decent living. Out of one hundred workers in 29 of the New York State fac- tories, 55 earn less than $8 a week, or less than living expenses; only 5 earn from $12 to $15; and but two out of^-the hundred earn $15 a week or more. In the lower positions, the girls must work as fast as they possibly can in order to earn a living. This high rate of speed in the very long factory hours, under con- ditions that are not always good, produces intense strain. Even the girl with strong nerves often breaks down after five years of work. The manager of a large 57 58 Vocations sok Girls factory says that no girl can keep up the speed neces- sary to earn large wages for more than six years. However, this is the only field outside of domestic service open to the girl who has to leave school at an early age with an incomplete education and lack of knowledge of English grammar, spelling, and arith- metic. The girl who is wise in the choice of a factory and uses her spare time for further education, may have opportunities to make herself one of the few workers who receive the $20 or $25 a week. It is very important that a girl should enter a factory in which such advancement is possible. No girl can hope to work up very far in a factory where all the responsible positions are held by the men who have been willing to persevere to the point of valuable ex- perience. She must also choose a factory that will offer her an opportunity to learn a trade. In 53 es- tablishments for the manufacture of wood and paper boxes, 980 women receive less than $7 a week; 580 receive over $7 a week; and of these 580, in all the 53 factories, there are but four women who make more than $10 a week, and the highest of all is $12. Of the 1560 girls who entered this work, only four had the opportunity ever to earn enough to live comfortably, and none will ever be able to earn enough to provide for sickness and old age. On the other hand there are many factories in which skilled work is done by women, and the beginner in these, if she is willing to serve an apparently unprof- itable apprenticeship, will have some opportunities. In ten corset factories, there were 897 girls earning less than $7 a week and 1314 earning more than $7. Of these 1314, 137 women, or nearly fourteen to a fac- Factory Work 59 tory, earned more than $12 a week ; while two, working as designers and fitters, earned over $20. The learner in the corset factory at $3.50 a week, who has an op- portunity to learn a trade, is in a better position than the girl of the same age who begins in the paper box factory at $5 a week. The conditions in the factories are not always satis- factory. No girl can afford to work in a room where dangerous machinery is unprotected or dust is flying about, so that some day she will have to support herself as a consumptive or a helpless cripple. If a girl wishes to keep her health and earning power, she must not enter a factory that fails to provide for her comfort and safety. The workroom should be well-lighted, with the light coming from the side or back. A girl work- ing with machinery in a poorly lighted place strains her eyes and may at any time make a slip that will cost her a finger or an arm. Good ventilation is very important. Factories in which dusty work is done should have machinery for carrying off the dust. The girls should have a clean place to eat their lunches, with stoves for warming soup or hot drinks. The worker should have opportunities to change her posi- tion frequently. The girls are entitled to some of these necessary conditions by law, but the girl who depends for her living upon her quick eyes, strong arms, and steady nerves, must not wait for the law to guard these for her. In this, as in other fields of work, there is no advan- tage in beginning before the age of sixteen. The very young girl is given only the most monotonous un- skilled work. She tires of this before she is old enough to learn to operate a machine. Consequently, she 60 Vocations for Giels changes about from factory to factory in search of the variety of work that the older girl can find in pro- motion in the same shop. By the time the girl reaches sixteen, she has formed the habit of drifting about, and will probably never stay in one shop long enough to learn a trade. After she has entered the factory, the girl's advance- ment will depend upon the opportunities in the line of work she has chosen and also upon her own abilities. She should be polite and respectful to her superiors, ready to obey promptly, quick to understand and to an- ticipate orders, and observant of all that goes on about her. She will begin as floor girl, carrying from one de- partment to another; then she may be given simple hand work; and later she will be taught to run a ma- chine. As a beginner, she will receive from $3.50 to $6 a week. When the untrained girl is offered $6 a week, she may be fairly sure that she will have no op- portunity to learn to earn more. When she has learned to run her machine, the girl is in danger of stopping in her progress. The girl who learns to operate only one machine and devotes all her efforts to increasing her speed on that machine, is not preparing for any future. If a new machine is intro- duced to take the place of hers, or if she loses her abil- ity through an accident or through ill health, she is again on the level of the unskilled worker, and must begin all over again. In order to prevent this, and to prepare herself for higher positions, a girl should learn as many, processes in her trade as she can. This she can do by taking work in evening trade classes or by changing from one position to another in her own shop. She must remember that the small decrease in Factoky Work 61 pay that results from a change of work is more than made up by the training she receives, and every change will make her quicker in learning new methods of work. The salaries for operating machines run from $6 to $15 a week. Girls sometimes make more in one week when they are paid by the piece, but their average yearly salary is sometimes lower, and seldom higher than that of the others. In general, girls should choose the regular salary instead of payment on the piece work basis, so that they will be able to count -on a certain amount of money and not be tempted to ruin their health by excessive speed. The higher positions are few. The girl who re- mains in one shop long enough to win the confidence of her employers and the respect of her fellow-workers, understands thoroughly every detail of the work in her department, and has some executive ability, may ob- tain the position of forewoman. This work provides an escape from the routine of piece work and machine operating, and pays from $10 to $20 a week. Every shop employs a large number of young girls to wrap, pack, and label goods. The wrappers and labellers are usually paid according to the amount of work that they accomplish. The only chance for ad- vancement lies in increased speed. This work requires no skill and leads to no higher positions. In the manufacture of paper goods and wood and paper boxes, girls will find little room for advancement. Although a little skill is needed in pasting together the fancy boxes that cannot be put together by machine, most of the work is unskilled. The trade is also apt 63 Vocations foe Girls to be seasonal, as extra hands are taken on for making Christmas boxes and laid off after the holidays. In the breweries, the girls engaged in bottling beer are obliged to stand in damp cold rooms. Their hands and faces are often cut by exploding bottles. In recent years conditions have been greatly improved in many shops. — • In bookbinding, women fold the sheets into pages, gather together the separate pages into a book ready for the binder, sew the sheets together by hand or with the stitching machine, and lay on the gold-leaf for the men who letter the covers. A great deal of the work is paid for by the piece. New machines for folding and gathering together the sheets are being introduced, and girls who would be sure of employment should be careful to learn more than one process. The book- binders' union, to which women may belong, has sick and death benefits for its members and regulates to some extent the amount of overtime work. Artistic hand binding cannot be learned in a factory and is properly included under the crafts, rather than the industries. In brush manufacture, women are engaged in in- serting the bristles into the backs of the brushes by hand and in polishing the wood. The skilled work and ma- chine work are done entirely by men. In factories for making buttons, women stamp the buttons from the pearl. Some polishing and finishing is also done by women. In carpet and rug factories, the beginners find the work very trying, because the chemicals in the dyes are injurious to the skin and clothing. The girls who hand the dyes to the workmen must know the num- bers of the colors and respond quickly to orders. They Factory Work 63 may advance to winding yarn by machine, and later find good employment in stenciling designs in colors. As compared with other industries, this trade shows an unusually large number of women receiving more than $8 a week. Girls do not assist in the actual manufacture of chem- icals. They fill bottles and seal them with a corking machine that requires quick movements and careful attention rather than any degree of skill. The girls also make and fill capsules and stamp out lozenges. They have the advantage of working in their own de- partments separate from the men. Although the odors of the chemicals are unpleasant to the beginner, the work is unusually free from any bad effects upon the health of the women. The cigar manufacture is unionized in many shops, and the workers follow a regular plan of advancement The beginner for three weeks strips the leaves from the stalks for $3.50 a week. She then receives the regular union wage of $7. By skill and speed, she may later earn as much as $10 or $11. The conditions in this trade are often very bad. The death rate from tu- berculosis among cigar workers is exceedingly high. The conditions in union shops are somewhat better, as the union enforces certain sanitary rules that have con- siderably reduced this danger. The union has also established an eight hour day in its shops. A very large number of girls who enter industry begin work in the clothing factories. Men's and women's tailored suits, women's lingerie dresses and shirtwaists, and children's coats and dresses are turned out in great quantities. Each girl does one small part 64 Vocations foe Giels of the work, and every garment is handled by many workers. Girls may begin by running errands, carry- ing goods from one department to another, and folding and packing the finished garments. Later they may become "finishers," make button holes, sew on buttons and hooks and eyes, or cover cloth buttons. Finishing pays $3 to $5 a week. The next step is machine operat- ing at $7 to $9, or sometimes, for very high speed, as high as $11 a week. This step will end the progress of the great majority of the workers. A certain num- ber of women are needed to press the lighter pieces, but the well-paid work in this line, the pressing of coats and suits, is men's work. There is one very well paid hand in each factory, the designer, who plans the styles and directs the making of new models. She receives from $15 to $30 a week, and often more. A small number of cutters and machinists work under her, making a sample of each new model and planning the work of the others when the new model is to be pro- duced in wholesale quantities. In connection with clothing shops and in separate establishments for this work, there is a demand for ex^- pert hand and machine embroiderers. These workers also do fine hand work on underclothing and infants' wear. "The wages for hand work vary with the skill of the worker. Machine embroidery is not better paid than other lines of work. The stooping over the frames is very tiring and makes the work impossible for many girls. A higher grade of skill is required for the machine work in corset manufacture than in most of the cloth- ing trades. Girls usually find that this is a good trade Factory Work 65 to learn. Some skill is required for handling the heavy material. An unusually large proportion of the workers in this trade earn more than $10 a week. The wholesale manufacture of hats offers employment to a large number, of girls. 'Skill is required in some of the processes by which the fur and felt are prepared for winter hats, and also for the operation of the ma- chines that press the material into the proper shape. Girls with weak lungs should not do this work, as the air in the workrooms is filled with lint from the furs. In making straw hats by machinery, girls operate the power machines' for sewing the straw braid. The work is seasonal, and the girl who goes into it should learn another trade with which to fill in the slack seasons. Some skill is necessary for stitching the seams of gloves on power machines. The glove workers' union has abolished in its shops the custom of forcing the operators to pay rent for their machines. This prac- tice is still maintained in non-union shops. In the manufacture of knit goods, some skill is re- quired, and the average wage is a little higher than that of other clothing shops. However, the lint in the air from the worsted is unpleasant and injurious to the lungs. A very large number of women are employed in the shoe factories. In many shops, the conditions are bad, and, at the same time, there are many model shops among the shoe factories. Most of the payments are made on the piece work basis, and the girls are en- couraged to work up excessive speed. The beginner cuts off and ties loose threads, cleans and blacks fin- ished shoes, numbers them, and packs them. She re- 66 Vocations foe Girls ceives from $3 to $5 a week. She may then be put to stitching linings with a power machine and paid by the piece. Her usual wage will be $7 or $9, although at times she may earn more. Top stitching, a little more skilled than lining work, pays from $8 to $18, but more often about $10. or $12. Tip stitching and vamping is the most highly skilled work, and pays $8 to $25, according to the speed of the worker. It must be remembered that these wages on a piece work basis will be lowered not only by slowness on the part of the girl herself, but also by scarcity of work in the factory. The average weekly earnings for the year is some- what lower than the wage for any one week. The steadily increasing number of factories for the wholesale manufacture and preparation of food products makes this a good trade for new girls to enter. In preparing and packing canned fruit, vegetables, and meats, in confectionery, baking, and the manufacture of other food products, such as macaroni, noodles, and the like, the women's work consists chiefly in packing, sealing the boxes, cans, or jars and operating the lighter^ machines. In candy manufacture, the skilled work, that of dipping the candies into melted chocolate, pays from $4 to $10. The conditions in the food factories are almost uniformly good. Many manufacturers have model shops, and others are beginning to realize the value of good conditions for advertising purposes. Among the workers in cellar bakeries and candy shops' in the cities, the death rate from tuberculosis is high, but there is nothing in the work to endanger the health of those who are employed in properly ventilated buildings. Factory Wobk 67 In the glass manufactories, only the lower grade work is done by women. The overheated atmosphere of the rooms is very injurious to the health. In electrical sup- ply shops, girls are employed in winding the wire on armatures with a light winding machine. The work requires close attention and some nicety. Since this is one of the newer industries, many of the shops are con- structed according to the best modern plans, and the conditions are very favorable for the health of the workers. In printing and engraving shops, girls run small hand presses and do embossing and bronzing. Girls are employed in engraving to lay the cards on the press for the operator, whose hands are covered with the ink, so that he cannot feed the press. Girls stamping and embossing stationery by machine and laying on gold-leaf for stationery may earn $10 to $12 a week. This work requires skill and experience. In the manu- facture of fancy post cards, girls are employed to color cards by hand and by machine and to lay on gold and silver decorations. The great silk, cotton, and woolen mills give em- ployment to a large number of women. The work is unskilled and monotonous. The salaries here range from $3 to $12; very few workers exceed $9 a week, and the largest number earn considerably less. A Foeelady's Stoey "Why, I haven't got a story," protested Mary McCarthy, forelady in the stitching room at Heine- man's shoe factory. "I just began here when I was 68 Vocations roa Gibls fourteen and worked up until now I am forelady. Lots of girls have done the same; I'm no different from any- one else. "It was the same old story that you hear everywhere. Father was a good worker, but there were such a lot of us that the money wouldn't go around, and as soon as I was old enough to mind the children, my mother began to work out by the day, washing and cleaning. Well, yes, it was hard at first. I used to clean up the breakfast dishes and get the children ready for school. Then I took the baby to the day nursery until I got home from school in the afternoon. "As soon as I got my working papers, I started in here, so that my mother could stay at home. I earned my three-fifty a week by doing a thousand odd jobs, Jacing shoes, wrapping and running errands. Yes, it was hard work, but then I was used to working at home, and I expected to have to work hard. I was glad when I was old enough to run a machine. They gave me seven a week for sewing linings, and often I was able to make a little more by working late. "I never thought much about working up ; I was too young to plan ahead. Of course, I wanted to make as much as I could, because we needed every cent we could get at home. Then there was the children's edu- cation to think of : my mother and I wanted them to fin- ish school. I think it helps a girl to get ahead if she wants the money badly. I've often noticed, too, that the bosses will promote a girl who is earning her living ahead of those who just want the money for extras. "I always liked my work and had it on my mind until I got it done. Then I had learned at home to do Factoky Woke 69 things the quickest way, and when the other girls did things wrong, I used to show them my way. They al- ways gave me the new hands to break in. "One day, the foreman in our department went home sick, and never came back. I had been here so long that I knew all the girls and I had learned a great deal about other peoples' work by keeping my eyes open. •Well," she added, blushing, "they made me forelady and gave me a raise to eighteen a week, and that's all there is to the story." "Yes," she admitted, "I did put my brother Jimmie through the law school. But what could I do with eigh- teen a week, when I had enough and to spare with nine ? He's a mighty fine lawyer," she added proudly. "He wants me to stop working, too, but of course I won't do that. Why, I should worry about the work if I went away; I always feel that it is my work and no one else could do it. "Is the f aetory a bad place for a girl ? Well, I don't know. I do know that it's a bad place for some girls, and I want my sisters to finish school. In the end, though, it all depends on the kind of girl she is and the bringing up she has had." Refebences Special bulletins of the V. S. Bureau of Labor, Washington.' Free to applicants. No. ISO. Cotton, woolen and silk industries. 161, Cigars. 147, Cloaks, suits and skirts. 177, Hosiery. 178, Boots and shoes. 110, Pea canneries in Wis. 180, Boots and shoes in Mass. 148, Labor Laws in U. 8. 123, Employers' Welfare Work. 162, Survey of Bichmond, Va. 157, Minimum wages in IT. S. Reports of the Mass. . Department of Labor. Wood and Paper Pulp Industry, 1914, Brush Factories, 1914. Corset Factories, 70 Vocations for Girls 1914. Candy Factories, 1014. Libraries can usually secure these on application. Cleveland Survey Monographs, Cleveland Foundation, Dress- making and Millinery, 25c. Garment Trades, 25c. Metal Trades, 25c. Printing Trades, 25c. Cincinnati Survey, Printing Trades, Chamber of Commerce. 1914. Nebraska Department of Labor. Worklngmen's Compensation Laws, 1916. Illinois Bureau of Labor. Child Labor in 111. Springfield, 1916. Michigan Department of Labor. 30th Report. Condition of Working Women and Girls. Lansing. Oregon Department of Labor.- 5th Report. Occupations of Fe- male Workers. Salem. N. Y. Factory Investigating Commission. 4th Report. Albany, 1915. Dodge, H. H. Occupations Open to Girls of 14 to 16. Boston, 1912. Reed, Anna Y. Seattle Children in School and in Industry, 1914. Van Kleek, M. Women in the Bookbinding Trades. Artificial Flower Making. Sage Foundation, 1913. $1 each. Tan Worst, M. The Woman Who Toils. Doubleday, 1914. $1. Sumner, H. L. History of Women in Industry. Supt. of Docu- ments, Washington. 15c. Hearing, Scott. Wages in U. S. Macmillan, 1915. Statistical Studies a convenient form for comparing the p-ercentage distribution of femaib workers according to weekly earnings' 1. With the following figures taken from the report of the New Jersey Bureau of Labor Statistics make charts similar to the one given above. Factory Work 71 Receiving Wages Carpets Chemical Printing and Rugs products Corsets and Binding Under $5 67 427 363 109 $5 but under $6 44 473 239 82 6 " t $7 37 389 295 78 7 " " $8 57 340 320 84 8 " " $9 49 310 295 72 9 " " $10 32 135 257 43 10 " " $12 40 78 305 56 12 " " $15 9 23 151 39 15 " " $20 16 14 12 Over $20 2 2 5 2. Percentage of all female employees over 18 years of age earn- ing specified weekly wages in certain establishments for a given week in 1909. Figures were secured by representatives of the D. S. Bureau of Labor. Fractions are omitted. Under $5 $5 to $7.99 $8 to $9.99 Over $10 Canning and preserving 34 oj" GO g . 03 M.2 ,£ 1913. 51.20. " Harrington, H. F., and T. T. Frankenberg. The Essentials of Journalism. Ginn, 1912. $1.75. Bennett, Arnold. The Author's Craft. Doran, 1914. 75c. Low, F. H. Press Work for Women. Scribners, 1904. 40c. Wildman, Edwin. Writing to Sell. Wildman, 1914. 50c. Practical Exercises 1. Write a brief for an article on why girls are not as active in conducting the high school periodicals as the boys. 2. Prepare a list of articles which women have contributed to your favorite dally in one week. 3. Study two Issues of your favorite magazine and compare the articles written by women with those written by men. 4. For your vocational exhibit prepare a chart showing the re- quirements for admission, the number of years for graduation, and the expenses in the schools of journalism of the following : Colum- bia University, New York ; University of Southern California, Los Angeles ; University of Denver ; University of Illinois, Urbana ; Indiana University, Bloomington ; Drake University, Des Moines ; University of Kansas, Lawrence ; University of Ken- tucky, Lexington ; Tulane University, New Orleans ; College for Women, Luthervllle, Md. ; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor ; University of Missouri, Columbia ; University of Nebraska, Lincoln ; University of Cincinnati ; Ohio State University, Columbus. CHAPTEE XXIX Agkicultube Thihtt-two women in one county of New York State in 1908 were managing their own farms. They earned, on an average, $428 in addition to the use of the house and farm products. Several of the women earned as much as $1100 or more ; but the general average was pulled down by a few failures. They received this much money; and were, at the same time, making improve- ments on their land that raised the value of the prop- erty. The money that did not come directly to them as profit was put into permanent investments that they may at any time convert into money. Each of these women is leading a happy, out-door life, and is her own mistress. The girl who has been brought up on a farm, has grown and has learned to like and to need plenty of out-door exercise finds city life and office hours very trying to her health and spirits. Such a girl, if she really knows something about farming, reads the farm journals, and can take a short course in an agricultural college, should hesitate to leave the farm. City girls also may look forward to this vocation. Some clerks and stenographers living in the suburbs have begun poultry raising or bee keeping as an avoca- tion, and later have given up their former work to devote themselves entirely to farming. Others have taken agricultural courses, read the farm journals and 176 Ageiodltuee 177 bulletins of the agricultural experiment stations, worked for a time on a farm, and then gone into business for themselves. The State University of each state gives courses in agriculture that are free to residents of the state. The Department of Agriculture at Washington will furnish free upon request very useful bulletins on farming subjects. The woman who is to succeed as a farm manager must overcome some serious handicaps. She should be strong enough to do her work herself when she cannot get help. She may be obliged to live alone in the country. •Some women managers complain that they cannot get satis- factory help, because the best class of farm hands con- sider it beneath their dignity to work for a woman. The woman who wishes to manage a farm should also have- the means to buy or rent a place, as farm owners hesitate to engage a woman as manager of their estates. Farm management, then, while it is not impossible for a woman, requires capital and an unusual physical equip- ment. There are lighter branches of farming in which women may hope for good results without the expendi- ture of a great amount of money. Poultry farming may be begun on a small scale with little land. Women have found bee keeping a pleasant and profitable avocation. Since only seventy-five or one hundred hives should be kept in one apiary, it would be almost impossible for a farmer to depend upon bee keeping for her entire in- come. Dairy-farming also is open to women ; those with special training and some practical experience in the work may obtain positions as managers of dairy farms or may start farms of their own. For women who live near a city, floriculture may pay well. This requires 178 Vocations foe Giels some outlay of money for greenhouses. A very profitable lighter branch of farming is the raising of fruits and vegetables for a city market. The successful farmer studies her market before she plans her enterprise. She must not raise cherries in a town where many people have cherry trees of their own. If she intends to send her fruits, vegetables, eggs, poul- try or milk to the city, she must be sure that the rail- road near her farm gives good service. By catering to special tastes, it may be possible for a woman to work up a market for canned goods and preserves. The government maintains several agricultural ex- periment stations to try new methods of farming, and to publish the results of the experiments among the farmers of the country. The New York state stations are at Geneva and Ithaca. Girls with training in an agricultural school may look forward to securing a po- sition in the experiment stations. Assistants here earn from $600 to $1500 a year. The pamphlets on agricul- tural subjects to be obtained from the Department of Agriculture will give a conception of the work of the civil service in the field of agriculture. From the very earliest times women have demon- strated their capacity in these fields not only through their practical success in dealing with plants and animals, their diseases and enemies, but they have made notable contributions to botany, zoology, and entomology. A careful study of the biographies of St. Hildegrad, Maria Merian, Josephine Kablich, Amelia Dietrich, Mary K. Kinsley, Octavia Coudreau, Elizabeth Cary Aggasiz, Clemence A. Koyer, Florence W. Pattison will be sure to prove inspiring to ambitious girls whose inter- ests have been aroused by their studies in biological laboratories or their experiments in school gardens. Agriculture 179 Readings Bradley, B., and La Mothe, B. The Lighter Branches of Agricul- ture. Dutton. $1.50. Bailey, L. H. The Training of Farmers. Century, 1909. $1. Lyon, D. E. How to Keep Bees for Front. Macmillan, 1910. $1.50. Robinson, J, H. Principles of Practical Poultry Culture. Glnn, '12. $2. Stewart, E. P. Letters of a Woman Homesteader. Houghton, 1915. $1. Pennington, Patience. A Woman Rice Planter. Macmillan, 1914. $2. Warren, 0. F. Farm Management. Macmillan, 1913. $1.75. Income Information Accurate information about the labor income of farmers may be obtained from a bulletin which may be secured from Cornell University, giving a survey of the farms of Tompkins County, N. Y., and from an article on the Factors in Profitable Farm Man- agement in the 1915 Year Book of the U. S. Department of Agricul- ture. Practical Questions 1. From Interviews with persons so engaged make a report on the' amount of capital required to begin a poultry business ; to engage in raising small fruits. 2. Secure from the Department of Agriculture at Washington copies of the bulletins on Canning Clubs, Poultry Clubs, Corn Clubs, and prepare for a class discussion on how to organize such a club among the members of your school. 3. Write a statement of the experiences of a. girl who has worked one summer as an assistant to the housekeeper on a farm ; as assistant to the matron of a summer boarding house. CHAPTER XXX Business Peopbietoeship Thebe is no reason why a wideawake working girl, who has learned to do things without being told, should not look forward to the time when she is her own em- ployer. The woman who is her own employer has a certain freedom, but she pays for that freedom by accept- ing the worries of responsibility. Education for business, and experience in some defi- nite line of business, are requisites for success in busi- ness management. The business education should in- clude a knowledge of accounts and economics; and it is safe to say that no person should invest funds in a business which is to be managed by her unless she has demonstrated that she can render profitable service in that same business for some other employer. Through the preceding chapters of this book, it has been pointed out how working women have become their own employers in many different lines of work. Eeference may be made to a few additional lines. As selling agents for the manufacturers of specialties women have succeeded well; as purchasing agents in large shopping centres for others, many have firmly es- tablished themselves; some have established day nur- series, moving picture theatres, hairdressing parlors, ad- vertising agencies; others have supported themselves by serving as conductors of tourists' parties, as caterers, as entertainers at social functions. 180 Business Proprietorship 181 The increase in public employment offices makes it possible for women of education and capacity to secure, while working in these offices, such practical experience as will enable them to conduct independent agencies for the better class of wage earners. Every school girl is familiar with retail stores which are owned and managed by women, and in the adver- tising pages of magazines may be found the announce- ments of women who are selling specialties through the mails. The triumph of woman will not be complete until she has demonstrated that she has the courage of her convictions in business as well as in politics, and that she can assume the risks of undertakings as well as share the profits. It must ever remain true that the highest social service is that which is performed by those leaders in industry who can so direct others that they may become profitable to themselves and useful to society. REFERENCES Crowell, J. B. The American Business Woman. Putnams, 1818. Horner, W. M. Training for a Life Insurance Agent. Lippincotts. s $1.25. FUhe, J. W. Retail Selling., 1016. Gilbert, E. The Ambitious Woman in Business. Funk & Wagnalls. ¥1.50. Ker, C. Women Who Have Made Good. .35. Pratt & Peck. Practical Exercises 1. Explain how the service of some business enterprise which you have patronized might be improved. 2. Investigate and report on the meaning of the following terms : scientific management, time and motion studies, profit sharing, bonus system of paying wages, corporation schools. 3. Make a list of those business enterprises in your part of the city which are managed by women. 4. From your reference libraries secure the classified directories tor 1908 and 1918, and determine whether there has been an in- crease in the number of women who conducted bakeries, confec- tionery stores, delicatessen stores, millinery and dress-making shops, dry-goods stores, hair-dressing parlors, florists' shops, etc. CHAPTEE XXXI Other Professions The girl who has special talents, a determination to succeed, and the time and means for professional train- ing, will find none of the professions closed to her. The woman trained to scientific methods will find openings in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, optometry and in- dustrial chemistry. Art, music and the drama have always welcomed the talented without discrimination. The college girlwho is especially trained in chemis- try may go into scientific research work. Factories have laboratories in which men and women investigate new processes. Hospitals, city commissions, and sanitary engineers have laboratories in which water and milk are analyzed. The government at Washington has chem- ical laboratories that need assistants and directors. The laboratory assistant must be in good health, as her work will require constant standing. Scientific research work pays, the first year, from $400 to $600 ; later, a woman may earn as much as $1000 in a private concern. Sal- aries for experienced women in chemical laboratories under the civil service sometimes exceed $1000. Since Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell made her way into the medical field against bitter opposition, a great many women have entered the medical schools in this country. Now, women have an acknowledged place in the medical world. Over two hundred women are practicing medi- cine in New York City, and have found this a field of useful and interesting work. There are certain essen- 182 Otheb Professions 183 tial qualities which a girl must possess to be a successful doctor. Two women physicians consider that common sense, a knowledge of human nature, unselfishness, poise, and self-control are of first importance; and sound health of second importance. The irregular hours and the constant demand upon the doctor's sympathy and intellect demand a 'strong body and steady nerves. The girl who is attracted by this work should talk over the matter with her physician and get from him a list of medical schools that are open to women. The preparation for. this work is long and expensive. Most medical colleges now require a college degree for admission; but many students arrange td do the first year of medical work in the senior college year, so that both degrees may be earned in seven years. The young doctor should spend a year or two in the hospitals. During the hospital work and the first three or four years of her practice, she cannot expect to earn more than her living expenses and the cost of her equipment. The physician may secure a position as food inspector or school doctor under the civil service, earning in this way from $50 to $125 a month. Factories, life insurance companies, and railroads employ physicians and pay them regular salaries. One physician says that she be- lieves that at least ninety-five per cent of the women who enter the medical profession are successful, earning incomes of $1500 per year and upward. The dentist must have somewhat the same qualities as the doctor, and the preparation is a little shorter and less expensive. Women dentists all testify that the out- look for women in this profession is very promising. To become a successful dentist, a woman needs scien- tific accuracy, mechanical skill, steady nerves and good 184 Vocations foe Giels health. After she has completed her preparation, she must have about $1500 to invest in instruments and office equipment. Several successful women dentists, after a few years of general practice, have specialized in children's work, prophylaxis, and orthodentia. Some managers of drug stores have expressed the opinion that "women are the coming thing in phar- macy." Training of two years in a College of Pharmacy is required, and the degree is granted after the graduate has had two years experience in a drug store. Pharma- cists must also pass a state examination in order to prac- tice. The girl with a liking for the work and some busi- ness ability might save her earnings and later open a store of her own. The graduate pharmacist receives an initial salary of $16 a week, and, as manager of a store, may earn $24 to $26 a week. The hours are long and Sunday work is required. Hospitals and optical stores employ optometrists to make examinations of eyes to determine what kind of glasses the patients are to have. The work requires the care and skill in detail that many women have. The candidate for admission to the school of optometry should have completed the regular high school course with work in mathematics, physics and chemistry. The professional course is two years. Optometrists receive from $15 to $25 a week. A few women in this country are very successful law- yers. Others with legal training hold good positions as law stenographers and legal advisors to business houses. The lawyer should have a college education in addition to her professional training. Many law schools will ad- Other Professions 185 mit only college graduates. Information concerning women in law may be obtained from the Women's Legal Society, 415 Madison Ave., New York City. Success in other fields, music, art and the drama, can be won only by those who have special talents for the work. There is a demand for music teachers, teachers of china painting, and a few water color and miniature painters, but the training for work of this kind is so expensive that the field is not a good one for people of average ability. Girls with musical ability may look forward to singing in concerts and church choirs, or teaching singing in public or private schools. Others make fairly good salaries by playing on various occa- sions. Orchestral and church work offer many opportu- nities for those who are looking for a pleasant and slight- ly remunerative avocation. The girl who has ability and the time and money for the necessary preparation may enter the field as a professional; but if she lacks these, she will find herself forced to meet very strong competi- tion. Advice from a Successful Woman "Don't know what to do ? Have you ever thought of being a dentist ?" The young patient looked about the neat office admir- ingly, and then back at the tall strong woman beside her. "Oh, I couldn't, I'm sure; although I have always thought I should like that more than anything else. But, you know, I am only in high school. I have just enough money for a college education of some kind. Things look different to you, Dr. Jennings," she added wistfully. "You have your practice — " 1S6 VOCATIONS FOE GlBLS "I did not inherit my practice," interrupted the older woman, grimly. "And I did not inherit the money for my education. When I was your age, I was working in a dentist's office as his secretary for $8 a week and fin- ishing my high school course in the evening school. "I saved all I could for my education, and when I finished my work at the evening school and passed the entrance examinations at the College of Pharmacy, I borrowed money from my uncle and started in for two years of hard work. "My relatives shook their heads and waited for me to fulfill their prophecies by growing tired of the work and going back to my old position. It was hard; but I had borrowed money to go to college, and I was deter- mined to succeed. "After I had received my degree, I opened a little office here in my home town among the people who knew me. I had to borrow $1500 more during the first year. Then, when my friends found out that I could fill a small cavity and pull a child's tooth, they gave me harder work to do. At first, only the women came to me, and when they found out that I was 'really as good as a man dentist,' they sent their husbands and brothers. Now I have as many men among my patients as women and children. "To the great surprise of my uncle, who had expected never to see his money again, I paid him with interest before the end of my third year of practice. Within the next five years, I bought this home for mother and my- self. Now I have all the patients. I can handle, and can afford to take a month's vacation in the summer. "And here are you, young and strong, with courage and ability and a little money, hesitating because you Other Professions 187 are still in high school and have only enough money to pay for a college course. What could you buy that will pay you better than thorough professional train- ing?" References Abbott, W. J. Notable Women. Winston, 1913. $2.40 Bennett, Helen C. American Women in Civic Work. Dodd, 1915. ¥1.25. Clement, 0. E. Women in the Fine Arts. Houghton, 1905. $2.50. Bison, A. Women in Music. Page, 1905. $1.50. Fink, H. T. Success in Music and How it is Won. Scrlbner, 1909. $2. Sparrow, W. 8. Women Painters of the World. Stokes, 1905. $3.50. Marions, H. J. Women in Science. Appletons, 1913. $2.50. Practical Exercises 1. Describe the career of (a) some woman doctor; (b) a woman lawyer ; (c) a woman dentist ; (d) a woman pharmacist ; (e) an actress. 2. Enumerate some special branches of law work in which a woman should be able to compete with men *, some special depart- ments of medical work for which women are especially adapted. 3. By comparing the Census Reports on Occupations for 1900 and 1910, prepare a chart for your city, showing the number of women in the professions for each 100,000 of population similar to the following. For the United States New York City Chicago Philadelphia St. Louis Boston Cleveland Baltimore Pittsburgh Detroit Buffalo Female Female Physicians Dentists 1900 1910 1900 1910 10 10 1 2 15 12 2 3 23 24 5 3 21 21 4 3 18 16 2 2 59 38 4 4 22 12 2 1 14 13 1 1 10 10 2 21 16 1 2 17 12 2 2 CHAPTER XXXII Wise Wobk From Buskin's "Crown of Wild Olive" There are three tests of wise work : — that it must be honest, useful, and cheerful. 1. It is HONEST. I hardly know anything more strange than that you recognize honesty in play, and you do not in work. In your lightest games, you have always some one to see what you call "fair play." * * * Did it ever strike you that you wanted another watch- word also, "isiv-work," and another and bitterer hatred — "foul-work"? Your prize-fighter has some honor in him yet; and so have the men in the ring round him: they will judge him to lose the match by foul hitting. But your prize-merchant gains his match by foul selling, and no one cries out against that ! You drive a gambler out of the gambling-roomrwho loads dice, but you leave a tradesman in flourishing business who loads scales. For observe, all dishonest dealing is loading scales. What difference does it make whether I get short weight, adulterate substance, or dishonest fabric — unless that flaw in the substance or fabric is the worse evil of the two? Give me short measure of, food, and I only lose by you ; but give me adulterate food, and I die by you. Here, then, is your chief duty, * * * to be true to yourselves. * * * You can do nothing for your- selves without honesty. Get that, you get all; without that, your suffrages, your reforms, your free-trade 188 Wise Work 289 measures, your institutions of science, are all in vain. It is useless to put your heads together, if you can't put your hearts together. Shoulder to shoulder, right hand to right hand among yourselves, and no wrong hand to anybody else, and you'll win the world yet. 2. Then, secondly, wise work is USEFUL. No man minds, or ought to mind, its being hard, if only it comes to something; but when it is hard, and comes to nothing, when all our bees' business turns to spiders, and for honeycomb we have only resultant cobweb, blown away by the next breeze — that is the cruel thing for the work- er. Yet do we ever ask ourselves, personally, or even nationally, whether our work is coming to anything or not? We don't care to keep what has been nobly done; still less do we care to do nobly what others would keep ; and, least of all, to make the work itself useful, instead of deadly, to the doer, so as to exert his life indeed, but not to waste it. Of all wastes, the greatest waste that you can commit is the waste of labor. If you went down in the morning into your dairy, and found that your youngest child had got down before you ; and that he and the cat were at play together, "and that he had poured out all the cream on the floor for the cat to lap up, you would scold the child, and be sorry the cream was wasted. But if, instead of wooden bowls with milk in them, there are golden bowls with human life in them, and instead of the cat to play with — the devil to play with; and you yourself the player; and instead of leaving that golden bowl to be broken by God at the fountain, you break it in the dust yourself, and pour the human life out on the ground for the fiend to lick up — that is no waste ! 190 Vocations foe Girls What ! you perhaps think, "to Waste the labor of men •' is not to kill them." Is it not ? I should like to know how you could kill them more utterly — kill them with second deaths, seventh deaths, hundred-fold deaths? It is the slightest way of killing to stop a man's breath. Nay, the hunger, and the cold, and the whistling bullets — our love messengers between nation and nation — have brought pleasant messages to many a man before now: orders of sweet release, and leave at last to go where he will be most welcome and most happy. At the worst, you do but shorten his life, you do not corrupt his life. But if you put him to base labor, if you bind his thoughts, if you blind his eyes, if you blunt his hopes, if you steal his joys, if you stunt his body, and blast his soul, and at last leave him not so much as strength to reap the poor fruit of his degradation, but gather that for yourself, and dismiss him to the grave, when you have done with him, having, so far as in you lay, made the walls of that grave everlasting: although, indeed, I fancy the goodly bricks of some of our family vaults will hold closer in the resurrection day than the sod over the laborer's head, this you think is no waste, and no sin! 3. Then, lastly, wise work is CHEERFUL, as a child's work is. And now I want you to take one thought home with you, and let it stay with you. Everybody in this room has been taught to pray daily, "Thy kingdom come." Now, if we hear a man swear in the streets, we think it very wrong, and say he "takes God's name in vain." But there's a twenty times worse way of taking His name in vain than that. It is to ask God for what we don't want. If you do not wish for His kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you must Wise Work 191 do more than pray for it; you must work for it. And to work for it, you must know what it is; we have all prayed for it many a day without thinking. Observe, it is a kingdom that is come to us; we are not to go to it. Also, it is not to be a kingdom of the dead, but of the living. Also, it is not to come all at once, but quietly; nobody knows how. "The kingdom of God cometh not with observations." Also, it is not to come outside of us, but in our hearts: "the kingdom of God is within you. "And, being within us, it is not a thing to be seen, but to be felt ; and though it brings all substance of good with it, it does not consist in that: "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost"; joy, that is to say, in the holy, healthful, and helpful .Spirit. Now, if we want to work for this kingdom, and to bring it, and enter into it, there's one curious condition to be first accepted. You must enter it as children, or not at all: "Whosoever will not receive it as a little child shall not enter there- INDEX PAGE Advancement 33 Advertising 100 Advertising Agencies 180 Advice from a Successful Wo- man 185 Age Limit in Factories 53 Agencies, Advertising 180 Agencies, Employment 28 Agencies, Nurses 132 Agents, Purchasing, etc ISO Agriculture 176 An Apprentice 82 Annuities and Wages Compared. 25 Appearance, Personal 28 Applications for Positions 27 Applications, Written 29 Architecture 103 Art 182, 185 Artificial Flower Making" + 97 Arts, Practical 96 Banks 119 Basketry 97 Bee Keeping 177 Blue-Printing 100 Book-Binding 62 Book-Binding, Artistic 97 Bookkeeper Ill, 120, 121 Breweries 62 Broadening Out 42 Brush Factory 62 Business, Claims of 37 Business Houses 119 Business, Interest in the 37 Business Proprietorship, .92, 111, 180 Button Factory 62 Buyer 110 Carlyle— The Nobility of Work. 13 Carpet and Rug Manufacture. , 62 Caterers 180 Chamber Maids 87 Changing Employment 33 PAGH Character 44 Charity Organization Societies. . 167 Chemical Manufacture 63 Chemistry, Industrial 182 Child Labor Restrictions .... 53 Children, When Employment Illegal 53 Child Saving Work 166 China Painting 96 China Painting, Teachers of 185 Cigar Manufacture 63 Civil Service, The 127 Clerks 116,121,127 Clothing Manufacture 63 Conditions Necessary in Facto- ries for Workers 59 Confidence in Self 28 Contracts, Keeping of 35 Cooks 86 Copyist 122 Corset Making 64, 80 Cost of Preparation for a Career . 20 Cotton Mills 67 Courtesy 37 Craftsmanship 96 Costume Illustrating 101 Dairy Farming 177 Dangers 66 Decorating, Interior 103 DentiBtry 183 Department Stores 23, 107, 119 Designer 102 Designers of Cards and Favors. 97 Determination 12, 16 Development 42, 46 Dictaphone 122 Dietitian 91, 156 Director of Lunch Room 92 Domestic Science 90 Domestic Service 23, 84 Drama 182, 185 192 Index 193 PAGE Drawing 08 Dressmaking 79 Dyeing and Cleaning 75 Education 50 Education, Choosing an 16 Embroideries 64, 97 Employer, Character of 28 Employment Agency 28 Employments, Profitable 23 Employments, Unprofitable. . .27, 46 Engraving 67 Entertainers 180 Examination, Self 7 Experiment in Thrift 48 Factory Work 67 Factory Workers 24 Farming 176, 178 Farming, Dairy 177 Farming, Poultry 176 Field of Work for Girls 1 Fire Protection Required 56 Floriculture 177 Food Products 63,93 Forelady's Story, The 67 From Stock Girl to Buyer 112 Gates, Ellen H., Selection from. 10 Glass 67 Glove Manufacture 65 Governess 155 Habits 42 Hairdressing Parlors 180 Hat-Making 65 Health, Protection Required by Law 56 Home-Made Food Products 93 Hospitals 133 Hotel Manager 90 Hours, Legal for Women and Children 54 Housekeepers 91, 127, 134 Housekeeping 85 Illustrating 101 Industrial Chemistry 182 Inspection X27 Interior Decorating 103, 104 Immigration; Effect on Wages. . 25 Industrial Records 50 Journalism J.71 Kindergarten 154 PAOB Knit Goods Manufacture 65 Labor Laws 53 Laboratory Assistants 182 Lare Making 97 Landscape Gardening 103 Laundry, Steam 73 Laundry Work 73 Laws, Labor 53 Lawyers 184 Leather Work 97 Legal Society, Women's. , 185 Letters of Introduction 27 Librarian's Job, A 145 Librariansbip 138 Library Schools 140 Literary Work 171 Loyalty 38 Map Making 99 Matrons 91, 134 Meals, Law in Regard to 55 Medicine 185 Metal Work 97 Millinery 79 Mission Work 168 Moving Picture Shows 180 Multigraph 122 Music '. 185 Newspaper Work 172, 173 New Work in an Old Profession . 157 Nurseries, Day 180 Nursery Maid 136 Nurses 130, 136 Nurses, Average Annual Earn- ings in New York City 25 Nursing 130 Occupations, Dangerous. . . 59, 62, 63 Occupations for Women, List.. . 3 Occupations, Profitable 23 Occupations, Unprofitable. . . .27, 46 Office Assistant 121 Office Work 119 Opening, Finding the 27 Operators, Telephone and Tele- graph H5 Opportunities 50 Opportunity 19 Optometrists 184 Optometry 182 194 Index PAGE Painters, Miniature and Water Color 185 Fainting, China 96, 185 Paper Box Making 58, 61, 62 Partnership, A 76 Pedagogy 151 Pharmacy 182 Photography 98 Physician 182 Planning a Career 20 Poultry Farming 176 Preparation. 7, 12, 16, 18, 20, 42 Printing.... 67 Private Secretary 123 Probation Officer 166 Professions. 182 Progress and Promotion of Fac- tory Girls 60, 61 Promotion 34 Protection from Fire Required by Law 56 Protection from Machinery Re- quired by Law 55 Protection of Health Required by Law 56 Publishing Bouse 173 Queens Gardens — Ruskin 168 Recommendation Letters of. .30, 31 Records, Industrial 50 Recreation Centers 156 Restaurant Work 92 Rug Making 62 Ruskin, John, Selection from. 168, 188 Salesmanship 107 Saving 47 Savings Banks 47 School Record 52 Schools 119, 196 Schools for Domestic Science. . . 85 Schools of Journalism 171 Scientific Research 182 Secretary 164 Secretary, Private 123 Self Examination 7 Service 37, 46 Shoe Manufacture 65 Sign Writers 100 Silk Mills 67 Social Work and Workers 160 Statisticians 166 FAQS Stenographers 24, 120, 123, 124, 127, 184 Stenographers, Average Earnings in Civil Service, New York. . . 24 Superintendents 92 Supervisors 92 Switchboards, Automatic 117 Tardiness T. 51 Teachers 127, 149 Teaching 92, 149, 163 Telegraph Work 115 Telephone Work 115 The Milk-Maid's Song 124 Thrift 46 Thrift, Experiment in . . 48 Tourist Parties, Directors of. ., . 180 Training 20, 25, 36 Translating 174 Two Careers 88 Tutor 155 TsTiist 122 Unexpected End of a Well Plan- ned Partnership 94 Untrained Workers 3, 57 Value, Estimating the 23 Ventilation, Law in Regard to. . 56 Vocation Clubs 50 Vocational Investigation 50, 52 Wages. . .23, 58, 63, 98, 100, 101, 107, 109, 115, 121, 128, 132, 142, 152, 153, 162, 167, 172, 176, 178, 182, 184 Wage, A Standard 29 Wage Earning Women, Number in New York 57 Wages, Low, Why? 25 Wages of Women in New York City 57 Waitress 87 Wastefulness 38 Weaving 67 Welfare Workers 164 Wise Work— Ruskin 188 Women's Clubs 164 Woodwork 97 Woolen Mills 67 Workers, Trained 3 Workers, Untrained 3,57 Your Mission— Ellen H. Gates. . 10 APPENDIX List of Special Training Schools. List of Free Public Libraries. Homes for Working Girls. Employment Agencies. Statistics of Occupations. Wage Standards. This appendix contains suggestions for such an index of local conditions as the vocational counsellor requires. It is desirable that such a local index should be kept in the form of loose leaf account books or in a correspondence filing cabinet. This filing cabinet should be so arranged that newspaper clippings, maga- zine articles, reports from workers, accounts of labor disputes, could be grouped under the heads of the respective occupations ; and so that the annual catalogues of training schools could be arranged for ready reference, together with reports of students who have been in attendance upon such schools. 195 SCHOOLS OFFERING SPECIAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN New Yoke City The numbers following the occupation refer to the corresponding numbers in the accompanying list of spe- cial schools at which the necessary preliminary training may be obtained. Starred (*) numbers refer to schools maintaining day and evening courses ; italics, to schools having evening courses only; other schools have day courses only. Circulars of information will usually be sent by any of these schools in response to post card re- quests. Accounting 17*, 19, 21, 40*. Advertising: Sib. Agriculture: 4, 32. Architectural Drawing: 19, SI, 43*, 54*. Art. 1, 3*, 19, 34,43*. 54*. " Auditing: 40*. Basketry: 26*, 42*. Bookkeeping: 19*, SI, 28*. 42*, 45, 62*. Bookbinding: 45a, 54. Clay and Wax Modeling: 3, IB, 43*. 54, 62. Comptometer Operating: 17*. Cooking: Sla, Sib, 22, 24, 26*. 42*, 43, 45a, 45b, 47*, 54*. 6$. Costume Designing: SI, S3. 42*, 43*, 45a, 46, 54*. 62*. Decorative Design: 34, 43*, 46, 48*, 54*, 62. Dentistry: 14. Dictaphone Operating: Sic. Dietetics: 54*, 43*. Domestic Art: SI, 24, 43*, 54*, 45a, 68. Domestic Science: 6, 7, SI, 43*. 54*. 45a, 45b, 82. Dramatic Art: 2, 35. Drawing, Freehand: 1, 3*, 19*. SI, 27*, 43*, 45, 46, 48*, SO, 54*, 62*. Dressmaking: 13, 21, 24, 27*, 26*, 33*, 42*, 45a, 47*. 54*. 62. Elocution: 12, 19*. SI, 35, 39, 41*. 45, 53, 51*, 62. Embroidery: 22, 27*, 33*. 36*. 45a, 43*, 54*, 62. Enameling and Jewelry Chasing: 43*. 54*. Etching: 3*. Feather Curling: 62*. Fresco Painting: 43*. 196 Schools Oiteking Special Training 19 1 Furniture Designing: 48*. 54*. Hair dressing: 25*. Homemaking: 43, 54*. Housekeeping: Sla, Sib. 27*. 42*, 43* 45a, 54*. Home Nursing: 43*. 54*. 59. IUustrating: 3*. 19*, S3, 34, 43*. 45, 46, 48*, 54*. Industrial ChemUtry: 19, 43* 47*, 54*. Indexing: 43*. 54*. Instrument Making: 27*. Interior Decorating: 19*, 43*. 48*, 54*. Jewelry Making: 43*, 54*. Kindergarten Teaching: 1, 43, 54. Lettering: 45a, 54. Laboratory Work: 19* SI, 45*. 54*. Laundry Work: 43, 47*, 54*. Law: 8M0*. Library Work: 9, 37, 43, 54. Linotype Operating: 21b, 45b. Journalism: 16. Machine Operating: 13, 21, 33*, 45a. Marketing: 42*, 43, 54. Mechanical Drawing: 19, HI, 27*. 44, 45, 43*, 54*. 68. Medicine: 18, 31, 38. Metal Work: 27*. 43*. 48*, 54*. Miuine'ryf 13, 21a, Sib, SS, S3, 26*. 33*. 42*. 43*. 46a 46b. 47*. 54*. 62». Miniature Fainting: 19. Music: 10, 52. Novelty Work: 33*, Sla, 45a. Nursing: 54, 59. Oil Painting: 3*. 19* 34, 48*. Office Practice: 17*, SI, 27, 45a, 54, 62*. Optometry: 16. Oratory: 2, 35, 41, 39, 51*. Osteopathy: 31. Pattern Drafting: Sla, 43* 45a, 47* 54* Perspective Drawing: 54, 63. Plastio Designing: 23, 54. Pharmacy: 15. Photography: 54. Pottery: 48*, 54*. Portrait Painting: 1, 43*, 48*, 54*. Preserving and Pickling: 42*. Printing: Sla. Sib, 45a, 45b, 44. Retouching: 62. Salesmanship: Sla, Sib, 45a. Sculpture: 3*, 34, 48*. Secretarial Work: 28*, 62*, 54, 45, SI. Settlement Work: 49. Sewing: 13, SI, SS, 24, 26*, 27* 30, 33* 36* 42*, 43*. 45a, 60, 62*. Shirtwaist Making: SI, 42* 45a, 47*, 43*, 54* 62*. Singing: 10*, 62*. ' Social Service: 49. Stenography: 17*. 19*, SI, 28*, 27*, 45a, 54, 62*. Stenotypy: 17*. Teaching: 1, 5, 41, 43, 54, 55. Telegraphy: 11* 19, 57*. Telephone Operating: 56. Textile Designing: S3, 54. Typewriting: SI, SS, 28* 54*, 62*. Water Color Painting: 3*, 19*. 34, 48*. 62. Wallpaper Designing: 48*. Welfare Work: 49. Weaving: 43*, 54. Woodcarving: 48*, 62*, 54, 43. Woodwork Designing: S3. 198 Schools Offering Special Training 1. Adslphi College, St. James and Clifton Place, BrooklyntJ. 2. Academy of Dramatics, Carnegie Hall, Manhattan. 3.* Art Students' League, 218 West 57th Street, Manhattan}. 4.* Baron de Hirsch Trade School, 222 East 64th Street, Manhattan. Free, 5. Barnard College, Broadway and 119th' Street, Manhattantt. 6. Barnard School of Household Arts, 226 West 79th Street, Manhattan. 7. Berkeley Institute, 183 Lincoln Place, Brooklyn. 8.* Brooklyn Law School, 305 Washington Streetft. 9. Brooklyn Library School, 26 Brevort Place. Free}. 10.* Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Academy of Musio Building. 11.* Brooklyn Telegraph School, 313 Fulton Street. 12. Bryant School for Stammering, 60 West 40th Street, Manhattan. 13. Clara de Hirsch School, 225 East 63rd Street, Manhattan. Free. 14. College of Dental and Oral Surgery, 216 42nd Street, Manhattanft. 15. Colleges of Pharmacy, 265 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn; 115 West 68th Street, Manhattanft. 16. Columbia University, Manhattan. School of Optometry, Schdtl of Journalism, School of Music, School of Architectureft. 17.* Commercial Schools. See City Directories!. 18. Cornell University Medical College, 477 First Avenue, Manhattanft. 19.* Cooper Union, Third Avenue and 8th Street, Manhattan. FreeJ. 20* Educational League, 183 Madison Street, Manhattan. Free. 21. Evening High Softools. Free%. a. Seventh Avenue and 4th Street, Brooklyn; Wilbur Avenue, Long Island City. b. Irving Place and 16th Street, Manhattan; 114th Street and Seventh Avenue, Manhattan. c. Nostrand Avenue and Hakey Street, Brooklyn; Hester and Norfolk Streets, Manhattan. d. Marcy Avenue and Reap Street, Brooklyn; Vermont and Wyona Streets, Brooklyn; 60th Street and Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn; Pros- pect Avenue and Jennings Street, Bronx; 166th Street and Boston Rood, Bronx; St. Marks Place, New Brighton, Stolen Island. 22. Evening Industrial Schools, 120 West 46th Street, Manhattan; 134th Street and Lennox Avenue, Bronx; Tillary and Lawrence Street, Brooklyn. Free. 23. Evening School of Industrial Art, $06 East 42nd Street, Manhattan. Free. For persons employed in the work for which they apply for Instruction. 24. Grace Institute, 149 West 60th Street, Manhattan. . Free. 25* Hair Dressing Schools, 147 West 22nd Street, Manhattan; 44 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn. 26.* Hebrew Educational Society, Pitkins Avenue and Watkins Street, Brook- lyn. 27.* Hebrew Technical School, Second Avenue and 15th Street, Manhattan. Free. 28.* Heffley Institute, 243 Ryerson Street, Brooklyn§f . 29.* Homemaking Centers, 226 Henry Street, 162 Sullivan Street, 543 West 49th Street, 220 West 63rd Street, Manhattan. 30. Industrial School for Jewish Children, 316 East 5th Street, Manhattan. Free. 31. Institute of Osteopathy, 208 West 88th Street, Manhattan. 32. Long Island College of Agriculture, Farmingdale, Long Island. Free. 33.* Manhattan Trade School for Girls, 209 East 23rd Street. Free. Schools Offering Special Training 199 34. National Academy of Design, Amsterdam Avenue and 109 Street, Man- hattan. Free. 35. National Conservatory of Dramatic Art, 19 West 44th Street, Manhattan. 36.* Needlecraft School, 63 West 9th Street, Manhattan. Free. 37. New York Library School, 576 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Free§. 38. New York Medical College for Women, 17 West lOlsfc Street, Man- hattan!. 39. New York School of Expression, 318 West 57th Street, Manhattan. 40.* New York University; School of Accounts, School of Law, School of Pedagogy, Washington Square, ManhattanfJ. 41.* Normal College, Park Avenue and 68th Street, Manhattan. FreefJ. 42.* Pascal Institute, 576 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. 43.* Pratt Institute, 215 Ryerson Street, Brooklyn^. 44. Preparatory Trade School, 305 East 41st Street, Manhattan. 45. Public High Schools. Free§J. a. Irving Place and 16th Street. b. Seventh Avenue and 4th Street, Brooklyn; Wilbur Avenue and Academy Street, Long Island City. 0. Seventh Avenue and 114th Street, Manhattan; 116th Street and Boston Road, Bronx; Nostrand Avenue and Halsey Street. Brook- lyn; Flatbush Avenue, near Church Street, Brooklyn; Marcy Ave- nue and Keap Street, Brooklyn; Evergreen Street and Ralph Avenue, Brooklyn; Benson Avenue ana 17th Street, Brooklyn; Elmhurst; Sanford Avenue, Flushing; Far Roc ka way, Hillside Avenue, Jamaica; Richmond Hill; New Brighton, Staten Island. 46. School of Applied Design, 160 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. 47.* School of Domestic Art and Science, 822 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. 48.* School of Fine and Applied Art, 2237 Broadway, Manhattan. 49. School of Philanthropy, 105 East 22nd Street, Manhattan. 50. Society of Ethical Culture, Central Park West and 63rd Street, Man- hattanf. 51.* School of Speech Arts, 442 Classon Avenue, Brooklyn; Carnegie Hall, Manhattan. 62. Schools of Music. See City Directories. 53. Taylor School of Expression, 249 West 42nd Street, Manhattan. 54* Teachers' College, Columbia University, 525 West 120 Street, Man- hattan^. 55. Teachers' Training Schools, 241 East 119th Street, Manhattan; Pros- pect Place, near Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn; Normal School, Jamaica. Freeft. 56. Telephone Schools, 81 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn; 15 Dey Street, Manhattan. Free§. 57.* Thomas Davidson School, 307 Henry Street, Manhattan. Free 58. Trade School for Girls, 10 Prospect Place, Brooklyn. Free. 59. Training School for Nurses. Apply to Hospitals. See City Directories. 60. Trinity Night School, 90 Trinity Place, Manhattan. Free. 61. Union Theological Seminary, 700 Park Avenue, Manhattanft. 62.* Young Women's Christian Associations, 7 East 15th Street, Manhattan; 114th Street and Seventh Avenue, Bronx; Schermerhorn Street near Flatbush, Brooklyn. § Applicants for admission must be elementary school graduates, t Applicants for admission must be high school graduates. it Affiliated with the University of the State of New York. FREE PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN NEW YORK CITY Boroughs op Manhattan and the Bronx 476 Fifth Avenue. 192 East Broadway. 61 Rivington Street. 49 Bond Street. 135 Second Avenue. 228 East 23rd Street. 303 East 36th Street. 326 East 67th Street. 121 East 58th Street. 1465 Avenue A. 444 Amsterdam Avenue. 206 West 100th Street. 201 West 115th Street. 224 East 125th Street. 503 West 145th Street. 321 East 140th Street. 169th Street and Franklin Avenue. 3041 Kingsbridge Avenue. 33 East Broadway. 388 East Houston Street. 66 Leroy Street. 331 East 10th Street. 251 West 13th Street. 209 East 23rd Street. 501 West 40th Street. 123 East 50th Street. 742 Tenth Avenue. 190 Amsterdam Avenue. 222 East 79th Street. 112 East 86th Street. 174 East 110th Street. 9 West 124th Street. 103 West 135th Street. 922 St. Nicholas Avenue. 168th Street and Woodycrest Avenue. 176th Street and Washington Avenue. 8th Street and Fourth Avenue. Bokough of Brooklyn 234 Albany Avenue. Second Avenue and 73rd Street. Glenmore Avenue and Watkins Street. Clinton and Union Streets. Concord and Jay Streets. Linden and Flatbush Avenues. Fourth Avenue and 95th Street. 108 Ditmas Avenue. Macon Street and Lewis Avenue. 86th Street and Twentieth Avenue. Sixth Avenue and 9th Street. Hopkins and Macon Streets. 1657 Shore Road. Thompkins Park. N. Henry Street and Engert Avenue. 214 Ryerson Street. Borough 244 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City. Main and Woolsey Streets, Astoria. Hillside Avenue, Richmond Hill. 200 Franklin and India Streets. Franklin Avenue and Hancock Street. Bushwick Avenue and Siegel Street. St. Edwards and Auburn Place. Bushwick and DeKalb Avenues. Arlington Avenue and Warwick Street. Leonard and Norman Avenues. Leonard Avenue and Devoe Street. 197 Montague Street. Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue. 496 Knickerbocker Avenue. 198 Livingstone Street. Fourth Avenue and 51st Street. Division Street and Marcy Avenue. 185 Brooklyn Avenue. of Queens Schools Offering Special Training 201 Iroquois and Fulton Avenues, Hollis. Railroad Avenue, Queens. Main Street, Flushing. 13th Street, College Point. Central Avenue, Far Rockaway. Broadway and Cook Avenue, Elmhurst. Elsie Place and First Avenue, Bayside. 252 Steinway Avenue, Long Island City. 402 Fulton Street, Jamaica. 30 Eighth Avenue, Whitestone. Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, Rockaway Beach. Greenpoint and Betts Avenues, Woodside. 1229 Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven. 479 Underdonk Avenue, Ridgewood. 13 Locust Street, Corona. Borough of Eichmond 8 Central Avenue, St. George. 75 Bennett Street, Port Richmond. Canal and Brook Streets, Stapleton. Amboy Road, Tottenville. REFERENCE LIBRARIES Academy of Medicine, 17 West 43rd Street, Manhattan. American Geographical Society, 15 West 81st Street, Manhattan. American Museum of Natural History, 77th Street & 8th Avenue, Manhattan* Association of the Bar Library, 42 West 44th Street, Manhattan. Brooklyn Institute Library, Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. Columbia University, Amsterdam Avenue, & .116th Street, Manhattan. Cooper Union, 8th Street & 4th Avenue, Manhattan. Law Library, Room 29, Court House, Brooklyn. Medical Library, 1313 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn. N. Y. University, Washington Square, & also University Heights, New York/ Pratt Institute Library, Ryerson St., Brooklyn. School of Philanthrophy, 105 East 22nd Street, Manhattan. Union Theological Seminary, Broadway & 122nd Street, Manhattan. United Engineering Society, 33 West 39th Street, Manhattan. HOMES FOR WORKING GIRLS New York is so large that it frequently happens that a girl can secure desirable employment at places which cannot be reached from her home without an undue ex- penditure of time, for this reason there is given here a list of homes in which the charges are reasonable and which are believed to be under proper management. These usually have waiting lists and time will be saved by making inquiry by mail or telephone in regard to conditions for admission, charges and vacancies. Anthony Home, 119 East 29th Street. Manhattan. Non-sectarian. Chelsea House Association, 434 West 20th Street. Manhattan. Non-sectarian. City Federation Hotel, 462 West 22nd Street, Manhattan. Clara de Hirsch Home, 225 East 63rd Street, Manhattan. Cooperato, The, 444 West 23rd Street, Manhattan. Non-sectarian. Elizabeth Home for Girls, 307 East 12th Street, Manhattan. Home for the Working Girls of the Peoples' Tabernacle, 58 East 102nd Street, Manhattan, Home for Young Girls, 23 East 11th Street, Manhattan. Protestant. Girls' Friendly Society Lodge, 105 East 54th Street, Manhattan. Holy Cross House, 300 East 4th Street, Manhattan. Catholic. Home for Colored Working Girls, 54 West 134th Street, Manhattan. Home for Girls of the Swedish Ev. Church, 19 South Portland Avenue, Brooklyn Huguenot Home, 237 West 34th Street, Manhattan. Protestant. Jeanne D'Aro Home for French Girls, 251 West 24th Street, Manhattan. Catholic Ladies' Christian Union, 49 West 9th Street, Manhattan. Maedchenheim of the German Baptists, 217 East 62nd Street, Manhattan. Margaret Louisa Home for Protestant Women, 14 East 16th Street, Manhattan. Home for the Working Girls (Dominican Sisters), 242 East 69th Street, Man- hattan. Regina Angelorum, 112 East 106th Street, Manhattan. Catholic. St. Bartholomews Girls' Club, 136 East 47th Street, Manhattan. St. Francis Lodging House (Roman Catholic) 11 East 128th Street, Manhattan. St. Paul's Home for Working Girls, 121 East 117th Street, Manhattan. Catholic. St. Peters' Home for Working Girls, (Roman Catholic) 110 Congress St., Brooklyn. Studio Club of New York City for Art Students, 35 East 62nd Street, Man- hattan. Swedish Epworth Home, 5SS Lexington Ave., Manhattan. Protestant. Switzer Home, Christopher St., & Waverly Place, Manhattan. Trowmart Inn, Abingdon Square, Manhattan. Virginia, The, 228 East 12th Street, Manhattan. Young Women's Christian Association, Schermerhorn Street & Flatbush Avenue; 135 South 9th Street, Brooklyn; 72 West 124th Street, Harlem; 7 East 15th Street, Manhattan. 202 EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES Most of the agencies in the appended list are free to special classes of workers. Information can be secured from them by mail but personal application is desir- able. The listing of these agencies does not carry with it a guarantee of their efficiency. Beth-el-Slsterhood, 329 Bast 62nd Street, Manhattan. Bethany Memorial Church, 67th Street & First Avenue, Manhattan. Brick Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue & 37th Street, Manhattan. Casa Maria, 251 West 14th Street, Manhattan. For Spanish Girls. Emanuel Sisterhood for Personal Service, 318 East 82nd Street, Manhattan. Federated Employment Bureau for Jewish Girls, 60 West 39th Street, Manhattan. Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations, 19 West 44th Street, Man- hattan. Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, 41 East 73rd Street, Man- hattan. National Employment Exchange, 30 Church Street, Manhattan. Municipal Free Employment Offices : 55 Lafayette Street, 436 West 27th Street, 12 West 11th Street, 540 East 76th Street. Man- hattan. State Employment Office, Joy & Johnson Streets, Brooklyn. United Employment Bureau, 113 East 34th Street, Manhattan. Young Women's Christian Association, 376 Schermerhorn Street, Bedford Avenue & Keap Street, Brooklyn ; 608 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan. Young Women's Hebrew Association, 31 West 110th Street, Man- hattan. Agencies fob Giving Legal Aid to Working Women. These societies furnish assistance either free or for nominal fees. Legal Aid Society, 239 Broadway, New York. Working Women's Protective Union, 9 East 8th Street, New York. 203 STATISTICS OF OCCUPATION Every ten years the residents of New York are enumerated by the agents of the Bureau of the Census and the results are published in a volume of Occupa- tions. The volume for the census of 1910 appears just as this book is being printed. In 1900 girls under 16 constituted about 6 per cent, of all the female work- ers of the city; in 1910 they formed less than 3 per cent., and according to the Industrial Directory for 1912, the number of girls under 16 was less than 1 per cent of all of the female factory workers of the city. There seems to be little for the girl under 16 to do but to remain in school or to help her parents in the home. This delayed admission to industry makes the compe- tition, much keener for the employments which are open to the untrained and inexperienced. The task of selecting suitable work is further complicated because of the large numbers of untrained who come to this city seeking their fortunes. There are many helpful insti- tutions but their resources are limited and the demands made upon them by the unfortunate and handicapped are so great that the normal working girl must expect to depend upon herself and her friends in handling her own problems. A few tables of statistics will help her. Assuming that 20 out of every 1000 female work- ers drop out of the ranks every year and adding to this the number representing the average annual increase of workers as shown in Table I, it can be determined in what employments the demand is increasing. 204 Statistics op Occupation 20S I. — Number op Female Workers in Selected Occupations in New York City, as Reported by the V. S. Census for 1910 Occupations Total female Girls under 16 Women over 45 Average annual increase in total number 3,759 1,825 1,784 515 820 3,864 6,707 21,613 729 2,226 4,692 9,947 19,409 8,751 684 676 38,850 1,127 3,302 1,023 589 7,522 10,454 1,624 1,720 5,874 780 789 12,095 5,804 2,664 7,504 9,709 3,011 583 6,889 7,779 1,204 607 27,761 65,042 113,409 1,361 2,124 3,303 33,769 2,124 21,683 6,002 726 7,362 8,958 17,823 38 1,448 12 48 80 467 79 235 11 685 546 181 5 24 95 1 55 "i 140 122 116 45 28 50 1,244 243 363 12 "l 801 3,045 1,819 52 112 250 546 128 20 "2 116 66 43 155 2 312 186 10 282 3,370 426 16 65 1,560 296 367 1,112 59 32 7,451 92 185 63 160 3,041 3,607 59 ' 71 873 15 729 836 • 7i6 2,847 91 209 302 2,706 354 163 1,171 2,951 13,714 87 78 89 367 172 2,810 589 37 37 346 6,008 113 Apprentices to dressmakers and * Artists, sculptors, teachers of art. . . 37 * 51 Barbers, hairdressers, manicurists . . Boarding and lodging housekeepers . Bookkeepers, cashiers, accountants. 301 389 1,332 31 83 * * 1,035 232 * * 133 * * * Housekeeper ana stewardesses * 237 644 122 73 Leather goods factories * * Manufacturers and officials Milliners and millinery dealers Musicians and teachers of music . . . Messengers and office girls 284 544 252 * Paper box factories 8 7 Printing and publishing • * Restaurant keepers * * 516 * * * Silk mills 39 93 290 * Teachers in schools, public, etc 886 * 590 * * * Classification does not permit comparison. STANDARDS OF WAGES We have reliable information concerning the wages paid in department stores, in a few factory groups, and in the state and municipal service. In 1912, seventeen department stores submitted their pay rolls for a single week in April to the National Civic Federation. The tabulation showed that less than 5 per cent, of the employes were girls under 16 and a little more than 1 per cent, were assistant buyers at fairly good wages. The distribution of the female workers on the wage scale may be shown by representing the salary grades by spaces and the number of workers in each grade by dots on the spaces. 1 s. i £ J16 13 L2 > 6 :V 1 w . $ «>i- -— — — - " .. -- -. j.w_ Profltable k ' . ■■;- ■•: - ff w». . .- - -j -_■ ■ .■■; ^T] Fair "■■-:-. ■-■:.;■.. ■-■,- ffapi 1 \.. 1 ■ ■■•■ ■■■/v u, Iflolmnt m -.?' •-H |9 Living Wi^e ■■ : ■ 'Jjjfeiis ■■ -''-iv^i m ?*-■'. ifc - Is mmm -■■','■' ; :.'-.■■■ -''§■'■ W-'--.- •1 ■ x El Kh lk is. ew *' nioDi ■•"— tbl»e UB-l.'I IS. Diagram showing the distribution of 10,000 Department Storo Employees on the Salary Scale. 206 Standards of Wages 207 Those who can. readily read tables of statistics will see this distribution better by an examination of this table. These figures do not take into consideration commissions which are paid in some stores in addition to wages. These commissions increase the average earn- ings very slightly. It will be noted that more than half of the workers received less than $8 per week and not considering those who drop out less than one-fourth have any prospects of attaining $12 per week. II. — Number of Female Employes in Seventeen Department Stores of New Yobk City on the Payroll for the Week Ending April 19, 1913. Weekly Wages not including commissions Under 15 $5 but under $6.. . $6 but under $7... $7 but under 88. . . 88 but under $9 .. . 19 but under $10.. $10 but under $11. $11 but under 812. $12 but under $13. $13 but under $14. $14 but under $16. $16 but under $18. $18 but under $20. $20 but under $25. Over $25 Total , Average wage Assistant buyers 1 1 5 4 5 16 5 27 22 27 37 83 233 $22.42 Sales- women 27 161 1,462 1,777 1,497 966 863 326 584 144 489 176 146 168 81 8,867 $9.31 Girls under 16 874 69 16 1 2 $3.85 All others 1,702 1,214 1,645 1,129 925 614 616 132 374 179 115 133 132 9,565 Total 2,603 1,444 3,123 2,908 2,425 1,583 1,483 597 989 281 890 377 19,627 $8.58 Investigators have agreed that the girl who works for less than $8 per week in our large cities does so at a loss to herself or her parents or compels herself to live in such a way that she will not be likely to main- tain her efficiency. Subtracting each weekly wage from $8 and multiplying the difference by the number of workers at that wage, adding the products will enable any girl to determine at what a loss to the workers or their parents the customers in these stores are being served. 208 Statistics of Occupation If, however, a worker figures her cost as a manu- facturer computes the cost of his services to his cus- tomer, she will say that she represents at 16 an invest- ment equal to the cost of her rearing and education, and in our well managed institutions this cost is about $4000; her maintenance of $400 per year, insurance against sickness and unemployment, interest in the in- vestment which she represents, a small annual sum to repay this investment during her working years, and she will find that $12 is the lowest possible profit- able wage and that in a large city it should be nearer $16 and correspondingly more for the work which re- quires time and money for preparation. She should have prospects of obtaining this, and her problem is to make herself worth it, to prove her worth and then to demand the wage. Fortunately store managers are beginning to show that they realize responsibility by organizing training classes to help their workers pre- pare themselves for higher rates of pay. The work which women do in manufacturing lines is specialized, readily learned and the prevailing wages are more discouraging than in stores. We have accurate information, in regard to factory wages for the entire state of New Jersey in which the conditions are not very different from those in New York City, except that the figures are for towns and villages, the cost of living of the workers is perhaps 10 per cent, less and for this reason in this diagram we have represented the living wage as $7 and the profitable wage at $10 per week. The returns show the average weekly earnings for the entire year and not the wages for only one week. Here again we have one-half of the workers receiving less than a living wage and more than three-fourths less Standaeds of Wages 209 than a profitable wage at the low estimate at which this wage is placed. Special investigations into the conditions of the clothing workers in this city for 1912, show that of the entire number whose cases were studied, 40 per cent, were earning less than $8 per week, 33 per cent. 1 I ! ? 116 12 10 7 1 Pnfltable ■' I Ws«e ------ Tilt Wig* m ?'£*' m Minim )■:- am 1 : Z '$0$ *.v;-rj ■!?.■■ 1 ,|Lh. gWige "IS : ^^V^:- *"-"-i 1 .J ;,«;.;- : feS .. '-■■• V:. wMs H ' '■'■?■■■ -\. 11 v-<^ : m ^113;, Wk ,.vM H*'t ill Uk4 rtpr« aU 100 »oik*n- 1U*4 parttaal «k- inuur l«. Distribution of 10,000 Female Factory Workers on Wage Scale. from $8 to $12 ; less than 5 per cent, over $15. In the same year the clothing operators in the neighboring cities of New Jersey; 40 per cent, were averaging for the year, less than $7; 37 per cent, between $7 and $9; less than 6 per cent, over $12. The only standard which seems to prevail is one which will enable the largest number of workers to earn a bare living. The industries in which the workers are somewhat organized show wages which are graded and slightly higher. In 1912, in New York, of the women workers; 810 Statistics of Occupation" in cigar factories 20 per cent, were earning in the week of the investigation less than $8; 50 per cent, were making $12 or more in a full week. The problem for those who must enter work of this kind is to find those employers, and there is a constantly increasing number, who offer satisfactory terms. 1 Work which requires special preparation in the way of schooling before entering or apprenticeships after employment has been pretty well standardized through the influence of the schedules which are in operation in the state and municipal civil service. The last table given shows in parallel columns the number of persons per thousand at each salary grade for those lines of service in which women are most largely employed. To facilitate comparison the salaries are given in even hundreds and columns for representative factory groups have been added. More than half of the entire number of women work- ers in the city are engaged in work for which little training is required; work which offers few attractions outside of the wages which are earned which seem discouragingly small, but it must be remembered that among those who have had to struggle for a liveli- hood, whether men or women, there have always been a full third who have had to be satisfied with a bare living, another third who have been carried on from day to day by the hopes for better things which rarely came, and that the fuller things of life have come to the more energetic third who have managed themselves with care and determination. More and more, however, men and women are awak- ening to the fact that they owe a duty to the one who serves them either directly ot indirectly in the service Standards op Wages 211 III. — Tabus Showing the Distribution on the Waoe Schedules of 1,000 Female Workers in each of Several Selected Occupations. Annual earnings i o ! •3 O a 1 ■a ! o W 4) S i s 1 i 1 !- S 2 B-g S§ ■J" E-i 1 h It l£ ■g-3 (0 §a 1 u |3 o 1 '3 IE Pi « 2 « 1" u ■£ s ■3 I 1 i $ & .8.3 1§ *3 1 in a a) — J « ■§§ 03 M a " eP 2 a •1° s.s ■SB u aj Average earnings. . . No. of individual $292 534 .. 26 153 157 512 153 $445 397 179 181 200 215 164 61 $406 235 157 533 310 $548 625 6 13 77 86 423 250 145 $870 562 1 24 881 15 79 $981 824 5 9 8 20 3 11 95 44 154 9 108 205 y 74 134 9 80 23 $972 776 1 "5 "8 23 3 38 196 4 154 275 159 116 'is $692 741 "2 "9 "s 31 18 32 102 48 126 261 241 122 $1163 15985 2 90 7 7 165 34 56 76 41 89 111 90 232 S2104 1119 45 45 398 3 57 52 10 116 4 21 64 3 4 52 1 71 11 14 39 $3156 241 $3500 but under 4000 3000 " " 3600 2750 " " 3000 2500 " " 2750 2400 " " 2500 2300 " " 2400 2200 " " 2300 2100 " " 2200 2000 " " 2100 1900 " " 2000 1800 " " 1900 1700 " " 1800 1600 " " 1700 1500 " " 1600 1400 " " 1500 1300 " " 140C 1200 " " 130C 1100 " " 120C JOOO " " HOC 900 " " 1000 800 " " 90C 700 " " 80C 600 " " 70C 500 " " 60C 400 " " 50C 300 " " 40C 200 " " 30C Under 200 8 633 129 28 13 114 "4 " i "42 5 8 4 " 4 4 of those whose customers they are and they are demand- ing that the performance of a useful social service shall carry with it an adequate reward whether that service consists in baking cakes or making candies in base- ments; fabricating clothing in stifling lofts; making shoes in factories or doing domestic service in kitchens 212 Statistics of Occupation and in the new industrial day the women who derive the dividends from industrial securities will demand that their working partners will receive a just share of the profits. The day when these rewards will be properly apportioned will be hastened if those who need service will refuse to patronize managers who make capital out of the flesh and blood of their fellows and it behooves those who must work to exert themselves to the utmost in their preparation for those lines of service in which the returns in wages and satisfaction and in development are the highest. Peactioal Studies 1 Prom the school catalogues on file in your library make an index of special training schools and classes for your own city similar to the one on page 196. 2 From the Census Eeports in your reference libra- ries make a table of occupations for your own city simi- lar to the one on page 205 and compute the number of recruits which are annually needed in each occupation and the percentage of workers in each occupation who remain therein to the age of 45 or upward. 3 From the Census Eeports make a table showing the number of women in each of the professions in your city and state in 1900 and in 1910. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 050 083 017 DATE DUE l | OAVLOHD I I