Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1915 — SHE IS ONLY A GIRL ON SALARY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SHE IS ONLY A GIRL ON SALARY

Extraordinary Story About On! of New York’s Most Noted Women. UNHAPPY IN HER LUXURY Beemlngly the Proprietor of Fashionable Dressmaking Establishment and Magazine, She Is a BrokenHearted Sham. By RICHARD SPILLANE. (Copyright, McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) At ten o’clock each morning a limousine stops in front of Mine Rose’s Fifth avenue establishment in New York. A lad in purple livery, who has been keeping one eye on the clock of the brick church and another on the stream of vehicles moving down the great thoroughfare of fashion, hurries forward, opens the door, and out steps the most exquisitely dressed woman in New York. Across the broad sidewalk she picks her way, men and women taking a hasty appraisement of the gown she is wearing, the gloves that cover her hands and arms, the hat that adorns her head, the stockings they see little or much of according to how she holds her skirt and the gemmed slippers or shoes which cover her feet. As she goes through the shop she bows once to the right an£ once to the left Those two bows take in all the employees of the store. In the rear of the room there is a private elevator which takes her to a bijou office on the floor above. There a maid takes her hat, her gloves, her parasol and, if she happens to have one with her, her cloak. That done she seats herself at a satin wood desk and a secretary lays a sheaf of papers before her. While she glances over these papers he stands, notebook in hand, alongside a smaller desk on which he has placed a wire tray piled'high with papers. Two Hours of Quick Business. The worngn reads rapidly. Occasionally she makes a note with a jeweled pencil on the sheet she is reading. Usually it is brief and expressive of approval or disapproval. Occasionally she calls for a letter and the secretary fishes it out of the tray. She reads it carefully, and, if so disposed, dictates an answer which the secretary takes in shorthand. It takes nearly an hour to go through the mass of reports, letters and statements, despite the fact that a digest of all the letters and reports has been made by the -secretary to facilitate her work. When she has read the last letter, or dictated the last reply, the cashier enters and lays before her such matters as require her attention. Generally he has a batch of checks for her signature. She goes over the accounts with him and gives instructions as to credits and the polite efforts to be made to bring delinquents to liquidate their accounts. Next she sees the superintendent—a queenly creature who looks more like a mannequin than the clever, diplomatic, alert business woman she has proved herself to be. The superintendent has much to say regarding visitors, gowns that have been ordered, alterations desired, gossip she has heard, happenings in the shop, goods that should be ordered and, possibly, changes that would be advantageous. At 11:65 a maid enters with madame's gloves, hat, parasol and cloak, and a minute later the little elevator is taking her down stairs. For four minutes she wanders through the shop saying nothing, but seeing much. Exactly at midday she passes out of the door, the boy in livery attends her to the limousine and her car starts up the Avenue of the Rich. In the Fashion Magazine Office. Once in a week or two she goes home for luncheon, but usually it is to Delmonico's, Sherry’s, the Ritz-Carl-ton or the Plaza. At 2:30 p. ms. her car stops in front of the office of a great magazine of fashion and fche goes within to an office that is more of a boudoir than a place of business. A maid takes her things as in the other place and a girl secretary presents letters, proofs, manuscripts, drawings and piles of foreign and American fashion publications for her to examine. There is no haste, but considerable speed. At 4 p. m. those of the editors who care to may call and discuss affairs with her, but at 4:30 she departs and the limousine takes her to the park, or up the drive for the afternoon outing. When a person whose regularity is so well established that you may set your watch by his or her coming or going departs from schedule, it is a minor sensation. So it was the day the Mg hand on the dock on the brick church pointed at twelve and the little hand at ten, and the boy in livery in front of Mme. Rose's establishment, seeing nothing of the fa&iliar limousine, began to feel uneasy. It was nearly eleven when Mme. Rose arrived that morning. She didn't notice the boy, so naturally he gasped. She was so evidently in distress that the lad. but for the fact that be had been trained to be a human automaton, would have asked her what was the matter. The employees in the shop didn't get their two bows, and ihe secretary who took several letters she dictated, didn’t send them out. Those

that weren’t sharp were bitter, were confused and didn’t make sense. For the first time since they had been with her, madame scolded the cashier and the superintendent. They couldn’t imagine what-was the matter with her. Neither could the girls down stairs, when madame, instead of making her customary-inspection, hurried out and got into her car. Hysterical and in Teara. If she was late at her shop, madame was not late at her editorial office. She got there an hour ahead of time. That was as upsetting as if she had been an hour behind her schedule. The maid wasn't looking for her and madame found fault, wrung her hands and acted as if it were a tragedy. Miss Terrell, tbe stenographer, wasn’t ready, and that was worse. Madame called her a stupid creature, grabbed some papers out of her hand, tried to read them *"4 then, in despair, throw them on the floor. Miss Terrell looked at-her in astonishment. This further excited madame. “What are you staring at? How dare you look at me that way? I’ll dismiss ' you. 1 You are impertinent,’’ cried madame hysterically. The girl looked at her with calm eyes. “You are 111," she said. " "I am not, I am not,” exclaimed the woman, but as she said it, she sank into a chair and began wringing her hands. “You look dreadful,” cried the girl. “I think I will call a doctor." Madame commanded her not to do so. Then as the girl started as if to go out, she pleaded with her to remain and a moment later She buried her head in her arms on her desk and began to sob as if her heart would break. In a moment the girl’s arms were about her.- For several minutes madame sobbed convulsively. The

girl petted her as if she were a child! and had the good sense to let her have her sobbing spell out. It was a wet-eyed, sad-looking face that madame turned to Miss Terrell when at last she looked up. “I suppose you are disgusted with me,” she said. “I am ashamed to let you see how weak I am, hut I am so unhappy, so unhappy.” “Why, madame, you are one of the most envied women in New York and ought to be the happiest,” said the secretary. "You are so accomplished, so beautiful. You have so much. You have a beautiful home, your own car, people to wait on you and never have to worry about money. You don’t know what the real troubles of life are. You must be overwrought or you wouldn’t give way as you did right now. A faint smile came to madame's fkce. r “You think I haven’t had to work. I’ve worked like a slave. I have eatah my heart out for years. My whole life has been a sham and a pretense. O, I’m so unhappy.” Ans once more her head sank onto her arm and she sobbed. Her Tale of Borrow. "You think I haven’t had to work?” she said. “Let me tell you how I’ve worked. I’m proud, perhaps too proud. But for that, fact, I never would have been in New York. I used to be married. I loved my husband more than I realized. 1 have a temper. I expect you know that. When he showed attention to other women I reproached him bitterly. I was suspicious and magnified every act of his. Many times fcjiccused him of things of which he was wholly innocent. We had many quarrels and at last I came to think that I couldn’t live with him any longer. Then I sued for a divorce. I got a decree. He offered to make a very genrous allowance to me, but I spurned ttT I had a little money of my own. I determined that I was going to put him out of my life and make my own way thereafter. I came to New York as a lot of foolish women do. I bad to work, for my income wasn’t sufficient to support me. “Whan Ihadbeen in New York at* months I god work in a little shop at Madison avenue. I had to sell and display clothes. I got eight dollars a

week and I was there from eight in the morning, until six, seven and sometimes eight o’clock at night. The woman who ran the establishment had a terrible temper. When things went wrong she lost all control of herself and used the most violent language. The year I spent there was a horror. She was good enough to raise my pay. for I worked as faithfully as woman ever worked. When the year ended I was ill in body and mind. By that time I was getting sl4 a week and had saved a little of my earnings. I never had ceased hoping to get on tee stage. Through a friend, I managed to get an engagement It was a sorry awakening. Instead of tee glamour and glory I had looked forward to, I was in a company that played one night stands. If there is anything teat will disillusionize a woman in regard to the stage, a one-night stand company will do it The members of the company were good enough in their way, but It was a miserable existence. Worst of all was the realization that came to me that 1 was not an actress. .1 did. not have real talept. I wasn’t emotional. I didn’t really act I spoke my lines and walked through my part and that was all there was to it A theatrical man who was a real friend to me, when he explained my shortcomings, but who nearly broke my heart by his pliin talking, told me flatly that I never would be a success on the stage, that I wasn’t fitted for it and that tbe quicker 1 got away from the stage, the better it would be for me. He questioned me as to what I could do, what I bad done as a girl, what lines I had shown talent in.

All a Sham. “When I told him everything in connectlon with myself, he advised me to get into something connected with dressmaking. I wouldn’t take his ad-

vice. I got on a newspaper. I know now I was a poor reporter. The newspaper people were very good to me and, as I was unsuited for general work, I was put after a while at writ ing connected with fashions. At this I was successful. I stayed at this for two years. I got to know some of the people connected with the fashion magazines. A remark I made in criticism or ridicule one day of the manner in which one of the magazines was conducted, led a year later, to tee editor sending for me and recalling what I had said and offering an opportunity to me to prove teat my idea was better than the one under which they had been proceeding. It was through that opening that I got where 1 am today. You think lam very successful. You think I am the head and the owner of tee fashionable shop that bears my name. lam not. "It is all sham. lam only a salaried employee. The establishment is Owned by a stock company. My name fs only used because of its trade value. Even the; car I ride in is not my <nn . My coming and going at a precise time each day is only a trick to attract attention. lam paid well but am not a free agent. Even the places I go for luncheon are arranged by schedule. It is so, too, here. I get a salary, a generous one, but not one-half of what I am reputed to get. -I am more of an advertising poster than a real woman. The artiflcla&ty of it all disgusts me. I have no freedoffi, I simply do what is planned, for me. It has got on my nerves. Maybe it wouldn’t have got on my nerves bnt for tee fact that I cannot forget my husband, and cannot forget the home that I used to have. 1 am unhappy, oh, so unhappy. I want my name, my home, *ny husband.” Habit and duty are. hard-task masters. At ten o’clock the next morning Madame Rose’s limousine stopped in front of the Fifth avenue establishment. The lad in purple livery; whir had been keeping one' eye on thq clock at the brick church and another on the stream of vehicles moving down the great thoroughfare of fashion, hurried forward, opened the door and out stepped the most exquisitely dresMd woman in New York. No (me who saw her pick her way across tee broad sidewalk had an idea that lbs Was art unhappy woman.

Out Stepped the Most Exquisitely Dressed Woman In New York.