The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-29

tant papers from office to office Tie work hours are s, the regular time allottod for days work, but they have a relief corp, in service between the hours of and 12, and 2 and ,.
 A visit to the operating room gave us d distinct and different idea of in
 formation" too. Some of us who only hear from the distance the calculating voice of "information" might have an
 idea of kind of Blue Beard' at the other end of the line. but there are four Miss Informations" and each one makes you feel like asking to speak to them over and over again.
 As to "Complaint' that's an awful
 name to give a pretty young girl. New ertheless she feels at home and ans
 wers the call, and the public has the
 habit of calling Her often. After you
 have met Hello. Central" "Complaint' and '1nformation." you will ever after employ different tone of voice as you , pick up your phone to engage their at
 tention.
 And after you have lunched with fthem and know they are human, and
 enjoy alads and sauces just as you
 do, you are only sorry you had not been invited before
 For the convenience of these young women lunch room is maintained with Mrs. farrell as matron and house. keeper. Miss Dickson is general super visor of the operating room and Miss 1 Watson is suburban supervisor. Each of these keeps in personal touch with the girls throughout the day.
 Reverting to the luncheon, the room is arranged with tabes with seating ca pacity of four at each. The kitchen is to one corner, equipped with range and china. Each girl serves her own meal. enc consisting of the following dishes
 x,rag tn |. ln,l tl,a oGinf of r visit. Regular dinner: Navy beans, salt 1 pork, potatoes, pickles. egg bread, not tea or coffee. at aNcost of , cents for the dinner more elaborate one was to be 1 had if desired, with no dish to cost n.cre tLan cents. If a girl wishes to bring ] her lunch she has the use of the service and will bc- gi yan a cup of. tea or coffee
 free In many instances the girl brings her own sandwiches. but the majority take advantage of the regular dinner. l In connection with thb above equip 1 iment. an emergency hospital is a great
 necessity. provided with simple rome
 dies at hand for ordinary indisposi;ion and this is great necessity where so 1 many young women are engaged. many 1 living in the suburban districts of the ! city. and especially where at least ore
 third of the force is on duty during the night hours
 l We especially were pleased at the coe- i tune of the si.ls-all neat and in gooG
 taste for business girl no effort | l iinery. just a common sense apparel. not
 dictated by the management. but pref terence of the young women many of
 whom board at the Young Woman $ 1 Christian association. The policy O. the 1 company is never to employ young
 woman living in a boarding house With out her family. This restrict tion is great 1 service to the girl from d distance. for l it.l,. ;e. rtD1a Af gr 1 chaperonage as She moves to the city
 among strangers This accommodations
 of a comfortable and attractive rest room l in the office buildings and in stores would ! he wonderful convenience to the yoi<g Vcman who Works, and an influence t1 l l;eer them off che streets at the rest hour en they really need that hours relax
 ation. If they were provided with a rest 1 room they could bring their simple lrnches from home and have some dslin- I ite place to eat them quietly and private | l,. Aisny of them cannot afford even a 2 cent luncheon day, and they can l hardly have t for less at any cafe, ana
 then they are is . crowded public place. | which is not always best for them. I We frequently hear them as they 1 are huddled in the halls of the public l buildings wishing they did not have 1 10 go out at the hour and if they re-
 main in the office they do not rest, | there is something aiWayS to be done. 1 even if only to answer the phone. 1 There are several thousand young 1 women working in Birmingham, and 1 many of them are working for fam ! ily's support. with widowed mothers or 1 invalid fathers; their welfare is part of the city's responsibility and cannot
 be too closely guarded.
 It is a great deal easier to keep n l girl well and strong by giving her the
 opportunity to take the proper care of
 herself than it will he to heal her af-
 ter she has wrecked her health. A l great deal better to give her security
 at her idle hour than to give her the excuse to spend that hour each day 1 wandering around to kill time
 We know many young women who bring their sewing bags to the office
 in order to do a little needleworlS each t1ay:. many have books to read, and i Noii- flcquently see them on the street
 cur busy reading an unfinished story. ] Nc were seated by young woman s"tcral months ago who was readiu : "pantc's Infcrno.' and could not helr
 l',silnul;irg llpon the seriousness of her
 selection and she told us frankly she