ury Department at $900 a year—a very fair salary for a beginner. An inexperienced girl would not get as much in a business house of any sort.
If you have a family dependent upon you, mother or younger sister, you must figure on their support; and when the family is small, experienced Government workers all advise that the appointee remove those dependent upon her to Washington, even though living in Washington is high. Many maintain that it is higher than anywhere else in America. Girls old in the service furnish these figures: Very ordinary board, with a small room, $30 a month; washing, $4; carfare, from $2 to $5. Bare living expenses absorb forty of the seventy-five dollars received each month. Out of the remainder a girl clerk must dress herself well, support those dependent upon her, and pay for such pleasures as sightseeing or threater-going, and entertain relatives, of whom the average clerk sees many during her Washington experience.
If several girls wish to club together, they can secure a desirable flat for $45 a month, a servant for $14, and a decent table can be set for $50 more, making a total of expenses for the month, including gas and incidentals, $115, or a trifle less than thirty dollars apiece for a club of four girls. The advantage of this arrangement lies in the home life and the social
