Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 3.djvu/448

Rh the means of laboring women than the $6 to $10 of the Stewart Hotel.——The first penny lunch-room in New York was established by a woman, who made it a source of revenue.——The inventor of the submarine telescope, a woman, has received $10,000 for her invention.——Deborah Powers, now over ninety years of age, is the head of a large oil-cloth manufactory in Troy. Her sons are engaged in business with her, but she, still bright and active, remains at the head of the firm. This is the largest oil-cloth factory in the United States. She was left a widow with three sons, with a heavy mortgage on her estate. She secured an extension of time, built up the business and educated her sons to the work. She is also president of a bank.——A successful nautical school in New York is conducted by two ladies, Mrs. Thorne and her daughter, Mrs. Brownlow. These ladies have made several voyages and studied navigation, both theoretically and practically. During the late war they prepared for the navy 2,000 mates and captains bringing their knowledge of navigation up to the standard required by the strict examiners of the naval board.——Mrs. Wilson, since a New York custom-house inspector, took charge, in 1872, of her husband's ship, disabled in a terrific gale off Newfoundland in which his collar-bone was broken and a portion of the crew badly hurt. The main-mast having been cut down she rigged a jury-mast, and after twenty-one days brought ship and crew safe to port.

Miss Jennie Turner, a short-hand writer of New York, is a notary public. In a recent law-suit some of the papers were "sworn to" before her in her official capacity, and one of the attorneys claimed that it was not verified, inasmuch as a woman "could not legally hold public office." The judge decided that the paper must be accepted as properly verified, and said that the only way to oust her was in a direct action by the attorney-general. The judge said:

Whether a female is capable of holding public office has never been decided by the courts of this State, and is a question about which legal minds may well differ. The constitution regulates the right of suffrage and limits it to "male" citizens. Disabilities are not favored, and are seldom extended by implication, from which it may be argued that if it required the insertion of the term "male" to exclude female citizens of lawful age from the right of suffrage, a similar limitation would be required to disqualify them from holding office. Citizenship is a condition or status and has no relation to age or sex. It may be contended that it was left to the good sense of the executive and to the electors to determine whether or not they would select females to office, and that the power being lodged in safe hands was beyond the danger of abuse. If, on the other hand, it be seriously contended that the constitution, by necessary implication, disqualifies females from holding office, it must follow as a necessary consequence that the act of the legislature permitting females to serve as school officers, and all other legislative enactments of like import removing such disqualification, are unconstitutional and void. In this same connection it may be argued that if the use of the personal pronoun "he" in the constitution does not exclude females from public office, its use in the statute can have no greater effect. The statute, like the constitution, in prescribing the qualifications for office, omits the word "male," leaving the question whether female citizens of lawful age are included or excluded, one of construction.

Miss Anna Ballard, a reporter on the staff of the New York Sun, was elected a member of the Press Club, in 1877, by a vote of 24 to 10. Within