New Britain Herald Newspaper, April 19, 1930, Page 15

; : A Widow, a Stenographer and a General Manager O the subjects of Montenegro or T some tiny Asiatic monarchy, their king is just as much of a monarch as ever Wilhelm was in Ger- many or Nero was in Rome. And in a million commercial establishments, ten million clerks, stenographers, office boys and other underlings view as mighty reigning rulers their bosses, be they sales managers, assist- ants to the presidents, office managers or auditors. And to Effie Strier, Wilson Roose was the living embodiment of author- ity, power, supremacy. Roose was general manager of" the Tyber Ornamental Iron Works. The only person from whom he took orders was Old Man Tyber, who had inherited the business from his father, but who of late years had gone senile and paid less and less attention to his thriving plant. Effie looked up to Roose as a Syra- cuse school teacher tourist looks up at the Taj Mahal. Armed with com- plete discretion over life and death (on the payroll), reward or punishment, hiring and firing, he was the biggest thing on her narrow horizon. When he walked down the street with her, if they chanced to leave the building to- gether—and he made it chance that way more and more frequently—she wondered why strangers didn’t genu- flect or give some sign of obeisance as this mighty man passed by. She took note with fluttering heart of his increasing familiarity with her; she skipped a beat or two the first time he addressed her, without looking into her eyes or giving any pointed expres- sion to it, by her first name. He kept that up thereafter. Once he called her “dear.” Not that Roose was the sort of man mho would make love in business hours. He was a general manager, he was a business man, he was an execu- tive, he was a stickler for office deport- ment and morale among the personnel. He had never called on his secretary at her home, and only once had they lunched together—that when both, on a rainy day, happened to dive into the nearby Coffee Pot, and he chose to sit beside her at the long counter. . 1 . s B o i When he dictated to her he spoke in Since that day when she left to pre- “Oh, I know what's hopping through han to anyone of the wo "mi in L.‘Hc spoil her day or change _w‘; snappy, choppy words, using all the pare to marry Tyber, no foot of hers your mind,” she continued. “What the Wherever she found him she position. She kept on scold bromidic commercial forms of expre had ever again been on the grounds. devil does that woman know about say, not l\\*v({- revising, scrapy ~g'1\nr{ ordering sion — “Replying to yours”—“Yours Roose, having had no instructions to ornamental iron—or business—or any- in I h he still ] o o, s, Dl v i I N 4 A OO I VRO R 0 iy i IO K191 “You will continue what duties you have been handling, but not as you have been, if you desire "to continue at all.” e ///m;wme/ L i ZW%VM’//MMWI/}M//////////&W/I///V L e i AR RO AH A AP NI I 0 2 7 3 Yy s it i nommnnnidy you have been handling, but not as yot received and contents noted” — the contrary, procceded with the busi- thing? What does any woman know signed letters over the itt She sent for the railroad e e e oniage A “Thanking you for'a prompt and fa- ness though nothing had happened. about important things? They're all words “Gener: nager,” i ,' a PR “”CI".L af_m, vam‘ €o 20 f‘ T A G e vorable reply—" “Thanking you for It was a corporation. Dividends were nuisances in an office or a plant, they hollow t S EenorR ol h"fm'nmm‘,“a"" s panded o0 et cosb me pathaps p smillion dollars. N past favors—" such phrases he bit off paid semi-annually.r The Tyber e meddle with things they could nmever —ager now—and it HoeaRlsen s Ot She was ShrsUEh, sh lhd‘.‘ Sooid My husband tolerated it because his \ almost as she put them down in hiero- owned 97 per cent of the stock. Roose comprehend, they make messes that it Roose. new sc "i«yi«le nodertieh shencould By et e a S e glyphic combination symbols, as though held one share, which entitled him to takes a dozen men to straighten out What nettled him the more was ship nl{a Dig T ction, meaning thou sloppy and slipshod. When I was my they were one word each. a seat with the board of dire 0 after them. Just because some man within three or four months of the sands of dollars a 1tuomn ;nrhc. pocket. e SRR e He rarely hesitated and never owned the other few certificates. At thought they had pretty ankles or rule of Queen Tyber, not only had Roose in on ‘)mtvcumu‘onr.e ;?v'd T e s e 2 the first meeting after the demise of good-looking lips, after he kicks off sales increased conspicuously, but a said nfnmbr.:. When V.l!r"m.:;nafl nm.n But 1 made it a solemn rule never to the old man, no one sat in his vacant does that make them exccutives and process of cutting and eningdhec sityahesimmonsd imife Ner etk N S e e e e chair, and no one was elected in his managers?. . .1 don't blame you, Mr. loose ends had brought ur rd-of and motioned Effie to bring her book. Sy ,,‘,;- m‘\_“ f‘ m'-”: hat flon vacant place; it was resolved to carry Roose. That's what I'd be thinking, I economies in all departments a “'I.a!w .\'.nbuhm, I'&a " m- S e as, _hi»‘m”". (J; };xs el suppose, if the case were reversed and moreover, shown up the past manage- manded. “And you, Mr. Rooce, listen 2407 R [ were you and you were Mrs. Tyber.” ment as wasteful, incompetent 40 ‘-“: “You are not without ability, Mr. “Why—no—not at all—that is—" unalert. Sh Roose. Tt s you do, you do well sent it in to Roose—it stated “I will be here at 9 tomorrow morn- enough. It's the thing “you never Mrs. James T NTS 'FQ SEE ing, Mr. Roose,” she announced, risi N | ~ ught of doing, though, l‘h:l! count. MR. Roose ABOUT the future. “Good day.” s L first butted in here, you The lower case letters indicate what LA | J thought either you would soon ease me was written, the capitals being printed Roose didn’t sleep a wink that ey 2 < i 4 back out, or I'd get tired of it and dis- O R e, He tossed and tossed and wondered X f B e it, or get everything 7 Rocse came to door in person, and w d and swore. Here was a ST | tangled up so you could show malthe a rare cvent. He saw there a neat sweet cataclysm out of nowhere—in - | i 3 | ot Well, nione of these appearing little woman of midgle age, two minutes his life was s} [ | i i S e ipenedit The busncisis wearing nose spectacles happy throne of a king to the & 2 ng more, worth more and running Roose bowed and introduced himself stool of a subordinate—and "to a han ever in its history.” and ushered the owner of the Tyber woman! And to a wor ’ = | i s, ma'am,” was all that he works into his office. few brief moments 3 C y i 2 ) | “How are things going, Mr. Roose?” had shown herself bo: she asked. termined. h, splendid—the c for the month ending Friday la are up 4 per cent over mmens § N N N N on without change of policy or person. Then, a few days later, the boy at “Information” filled out a blank and 2 s I R AR LS8 A RO OO AR 22000 U 0 1 L sy P pBIIIII % Vi g ——— ~See— 1 W/ 207, nd to answer. Old man Tyber had never been that R way, even when a . He had made Roose g. m., and had let him run. And of last year and 8 per cent above last he had known the ornamental iron month; collgetions, for the time of ber to ribbon: of her presence, Roose had B Y d to keep his jaw set and had b = . “TI'm still the ness inside out and upside down. 2 / B He Walked Home With Effie. He Had Intended to Propose That Day. year, are in good shape; orders on hand the biggest we have ever grassed for this scason, and our long-time con- tracts for purchase of metal protect us against a sharp rise which our com- came this jane, who didn't know a pig of retal from a side of pork, to kick a going and smooth-operating ma- chine into a tangle of junk! When he arrived, red-eyed, at 8:38 But in the t evening with le and still. He nned to propose to her that day. petitors have to meet. Yes, Mrs. o'clock, Mrs. Tyber was already there p ;. g > had no :umpgmn I_or it no“".. Tyber, everything in the set-up is I think T will thisfdesl; Ml R B tenslonBpHones nets disconiniise SR ! 21 \tenartmen [ mes i e, sa1d ibrokenly ST S thinle i Fer = 1o Roose,” she said, “and you may have in a dozen rooms; employes' personal This is notice that, e ive im- h s y reached for words. All the words he soun ) ) ¥ S : st e TR R Why ? replied. that all ever employed were terms or the Mrs. Tyber toyed with a pencil and one moved in here for yourself and letters could not be d v e e S i hood you've got? Can't you never-varying vocabulary of the sweet dlearcd esithrant: placed over—Ilet me see—over there,” Stamps or ten on office paf ,\Ignagrr of the Tyber Orname Ira much wits and imagination as language of business, especially the gy hats fine” she said. “Glad It was his desk she was pre-empting. time was eliminated in the Works; that every executive w woman? 1 think absolutely ornamental iron business, which rolled ;g4 it all flourishing and prosper- And he was to be shifted over against teaming by hire was cut off a held strictly accounta \ ight, though I hate to say it to you, off his tongue as befit the g. m. of the ing. It will be a pleasure to step into the wall. Oh, it was a dandy little were puschased; mies possible without are with her and against you big Tyber works, as important an out- ipshape an institution.” start—worse even than he had’ antici- uct, and if after Iks of what she did and you didn't fit as the industry boasted anywhere. Roose's head snapped up with a jolt pated. A a maximum allowance enforced; execu- the undersigned c b do, and you had the same and a better G that almost dislocated one of his ver- But all he said was, “Yes, ma'am.” tives doubled up on stenog economies not by chance o do all or any part. Any- Then, old man Tyber died. tebrae. A few minutes later, Effie came in Mrs made them ster rxm‘ut»}\e will be .mzdy can quit. I. dulnf think you'd There was a da shutdown for his “To—did | misunderstand you, Mrs. M Tyber looked her over with a notice; that this bu lef f‘wt‘l“?“.‘“\ e you out {x\f an organ- funeral. When the local papers pub- Tyber?” he began, “or did you—" scrupulous scrutiny, never opened her cralod. for one an only one pose- tion m?‘.jo 1.”‘1. o ilson, I'm lished his will, it was found that he “I did, Mr. Roose. Now thatlama mouth, and turned her head away w o {0 pay dividends, and ot t shamed of you . . . but I'm going to had left everything to his widow. widow and have few household carcs out voicing a verdict. Effie felt e now, she ]:",nnqui‘ vanity of md’l'\ ful S e ,“"'j‘_ o an u\qfltb woman ! No one around the place, mot even as against ny years of constant atten- barrassed and uneasy. Roose broke ! L v, she saw opportunities And I will sign it,” concluded the i ‘H.r I"\ owing Saturday at Roose, had ever seen her. She had tion to Mr. Tyber in his illnesses and the situation by introducing her to the improvement which widow. e 7 noon, ¥P~0n h\or_)no ne.\mi saw Effie nr\'eryintrutled within the reservation, old age, and now that I am the owner new boss. The widow ‘acknowledged, the veteran exper accepting so much Roose stood, wobbly and wavering i[szx. Jut ] e}_. ‘tno\{"t \eP General and that alone made her a remark- of the Tyber Ornamental Iron Works, coldly. i as standardized custom, would never on“l:!; fcrl.‘ . o ) .\a.fmgr‘rl a-n' lxr.; : IIC(:F resxde.n!.‘ able woman. She had been Tyber's I propose to devote myself to its afTairs That started off the griefs and woes ha}r\ pnrr‘m\'nd. 3 : Wh-what do I do, then?” he asked, Jh{. Ty \g\fl Z\n 0]1,,{'1! tla’i‘e-i a\_t hsm\, ‘tenographer, some of the older hands —in effect, I intend to run the busi- of Wilson Roose. The whole force hated her, feared ly In fact, there is no Mrs. Tyber. She \,“ Jecalled, when he, then some thirty ness. I think I should.” Mrs. Tyber rode him mercil . her and resented h t ontinue ve been Roose. She had been jealous {g vears her senior, had- married her. Roose turned several colors. She gave no more consideration to h cape the widow, e is, you will co v duties from the first. N 3 Ml % s i W sht, 1030, Loternatioudl Fes 2 - e o—————"! o L e ) ¢