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Show TRAINING THE SOCIAL SECRETARY. V NOT long ago a woman in socitcy went to a college friend who had un- dcrtaki-n the work of fitting men nnd women to fill certain positions in the business busi-ness and social world and asked her to train a social secretary. Thc faslnouabh young mntron complained that she could not find a joung woman capable of doing1 the work. The applicant were either secretaries for ollice positions or they were women without any practical business busi-ness 'knowledge. So the college woman learned the joung matron's needs nnd trained a girl for the ppsition. It took three months to coach her in nil the usual phases of social secretaryship secre-taryship and nssistant hostess. Since then dozens of social secretaries hae been trained to work for women promiucnt socially so-cially both hero and in oth:r cities, nnd the work of Ucpping the social machinery of a liouschold running smoothly has become be-come more nnd more desirable. As au occuprtiou the post of social secretary sec-retary has expanded until it might well be called a profession, In the beginni. women who took up this work had only to know how to write social notes correctly, correct-ly, l?eep nn engagement book and visiting Hat without mistakes, to look after household house-hold nccounts and attend to chuiity giviug in order to be qualified to fill this position. But the social secretary of to-day must have all sorts o.f knowledge at her command com-mand and be capable, at a moment's notice, no-tice, of running off the most trying social entertainment without the assistance of the mistress of the houso. She must he more than secretary and just a little leta than mistress of thc house. "The fust and most important qualification qualifi-cation for noeial secreturjship is tact," said Miss" Elizabeth Rachel Wylie, M. A., who if a special trainer of joung women , who work for society hostesses. "Tofct tho social secretary must have? ami 'If nature- has not endowjedrfher a an Ihennve-must traiut-hei'Mnthehaiidlini of certain situations which arise at almost al-most any social gathering iu thc fashionable fashion-able household. "Tho social secretary must be a college col-lege graduate. Society pntroiit ipsfyt on the distinction of a degree Mhether they have ever been at collego or not- And unless the girl has learned stenogmphy and typewriting, which nianj of them take now, we send her to master this part of her preparation before giving her other branches. "Wo are not an emplojment agency. On the contrary, wo do not find situations Miss Elizabeth R. Wylie t ' Photo by Rockwood krrz -rrr? ; ' for persons iu anj line of nork. Our aim is to Jit and train jnen and women to suit the position and to work for certain cer-tain employers. We make them efficient in any branch of work desired of them and we call ourselves- thc efficiency centre. cen-tre. We handle, Individually, ench case thnt comes to us, nnd we study the peculiarities pe-culiarities of temperament nnd thc requirements re-quirements of tho employer in order to supply some one who will understand what she wants without requiring a great deal of explanation each time. "There nre hundreds of girls who think that all the social secretary need know is how to write a letter. That is a Aery small part of her work. Wc teach her the correct phraseology of different kinds of notes used in social nnd business correspondence. corre-spondence. Many of the society woman's Icttcro- nrc business ones, nnd these must be written with professional skill, "It would be Impossible for the secretary secre-tary without special training to take dow'n one-third of whnt the society woman directs her to do as sho goes hurriedly ocr the day's demands. Perhaps while sho Is having her hnir dressed or n gown fitted she gies her orders. Sho begins by telling the secretary" to write to this person for a certain address, to that person per-son a note of condolence, to send flowers! to a third, ask a fourth to use her opera tickets for the next night, to make dozens of appointments, to have a paper prepared for her club meeting to-morrow and send ont invitations to n series of tens, luncheons lunch-eons and dinners. She .ruttles oa nt a rapid rate 'and expects the secretary to catch it nil, for thc employer Is too busy to repeat her Instructions. "But, nfler all, this h only a RmalJ part of the secretary's work. Wc show her how to manage social entertainments successfully, suc-cessfully, to choosu and arrange, thejiow-ers, thejiow-ers, to see that the table appointments nre, perfect, nnd, in addition ,tta these. dutics.wc .trniu her toltnow, tbccguests nd to know how to entertain theinf J V ,1- l a. "One of the things of w'hich wo make a point is thc woman's personal friends and list of formal acquaintances. Thc secretary is trained to know how to plnce every person nt table without assistance from thc mistresd, and she must not make a mistako in this matter or the dinner mny be n failure. "The social secretary must keep up with the vagaries of fnds and fashions that have to do with serving smart dinners and luncheons, the arrangement of flowers and the choice of stationery. The mistress wants to feel that she can depend entirely on her sccrqtary, and even if she docs not know how to distinguish the fine poluts of stj'le to hae a secretary who knows and w ho saves her from mistakes. "The woman who is immersed in social duties and pleasures has so little time to rend nnd kep abreaBt of thc times that she must depend on her secretary. So the social assistant coaches her in the current topics of the day while the mistress is being be-ing dressed. The secretary runs over tho uewspapers and lato magazines, selects what she thinks will make interesting conversation con-versation for thc aftornoou tea tabic or the dinner that night, and simmers It! dowu or explains it as thc case requires. -Her object, and that for which she is paid, is to prepare subjects for general conversation, conversa-tion, show her employer how do. handle on argument and make her generally Interesting Interest-ing without tho employer having to spend icry much time on this part of hor education." edu-cation." But thc efficiency centre doc more than prepare girls and women for social secretary secre-tary woik. It trains men as 'secretaries, It trains them for any work required, nnd it also does work of any kind -that physicians, physi-cians, educators, ministers and all professional profes-sional men and women may want. Au-other Au-other of its specialties is research work, and to facilitate preparation In thls branch It hns recntIyoppned headquartciVjn the New York Public Library. i i i |