The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1915-05-31
Women by Thousands Step
Into Mems Jobs; 1t Looks
Like a Permanent Change
BY CHAS. EDWARD RUSSELL.
Copyright, 1915, by the News
paper Enterprise AssOciatiOn.)

perstition that woman's place in
life Is over the dashboard and
the frying pan.
That is ceasing to be her place
in Great Britain, anyway, for an
army of women is now invading
fields Of industry that women
have never entered before. APP
parently they have come to stay.
A million men having gone to
the war, and other thousands
having been drafted into the mu-
milton factories, the government,
for the first time in history, ap-
pealed to the women to come to
its assistance.
Run Street Cars.
Doubtless it had more than
one motive. The more men re-
leased from industry the more
available recruits, and recruiting
Jagged. An immense amount of
work was to be done, and a war
service bureau for women was
formed as a kind of free employ
ment agency.
Up " way L dpoul oVsVpp
women had responded by regis
tering at this bureau, but many
thousands of others had already
secured mems places and with
out governments help.
In Glasgow 400 women were
engaged as street railroad con-
ductors. The Glasgow street
railroads are owned and operat-
ed by the city, and the manag.
ing committee, being in full
sympathy with the government S
designs, was glad to be able to
shift 400 men to the munition
factories.
Learn More Randy.
Staid old Glasgow's population
stared when the women in neat
blue uniforms began to ring up
the fares, but the testimony is
unanimous that the new hands
did their work efficiently and
courteously. Various Dismal
Jemmies predicted that at night
drunken men or rowdies would
make trouble for or get gay with
the skirted conductors, but it ap-
peared that they did not do
either.
A famous London department
store put women to work to
drive It's delivery wagons, oper-
ate it's elevators and pack its
goods, until nearly 1000 had
taken mems places. The man.
agement had some misgivings
about the delivery wagons. To
know London, its districts and
its insane labyrinth of streets is
a special branch of human attain
ment. Nevertheless it was re-
corded that the women drivers
'seemed to learn more rapidly
than men" and after a few days
the men guides were withdrawn
from the wagons.
One Man'seExcuse.
The only difficulty that Oc-
Cured had comic opera flavor.
In the garage the men, for a
time, refused to work with the
women. Inquiry showed that
this was not a recrudescence of
medieval prejudice, as you
might think, but something very
different. One gentleman ex-
planned it. Why, see here, you
know" says he, I'm married
man and / amt looking for trou-
BILE at home, you know"
In the sorting and packing de-
partment of this establishment
nearly all the mems places were
filled with women, and the man.
ager observed to his establishment
that the women did not seem to
be as tired at the end of the day
as the men had been.
Government Leads Way.
The government itself set an
example. About geo women took
the places of men in the war de-
partment, 40 displaced men In
the census office, and about so in
the board of trade.
Many women, having knowl-
edge of automobiles, wanted to
operate taxicabs. The slow old
! home office, the dullest corner
OF the government, declined to
issue licenses. Women never had
run taxicabs; therefore they new
err should. At the same time,
however, women we're operating
motor vans. and without apparent
difficulty.
Talk Plainly.
About 1000 women offered
themselves to work on farms,
and in the north particularly
hundreds of them were engaged
in the spring planting.
Those that were interested in
helping on enlistments took ad-
vantage of it., and so did others
that had an eye singly to their
expense accounts. Women work.
ed for smaller wages; IL they
took mems places, so much to
tho good. Business was busi-
ness.
But the hopeful sign is that so
many of the women perceive the
complex situation they are Great
ing and prove that they are no
children about essential eco
nomic principles.
For instance, few days ago
there was called in London a
great conference Of these and
other women to consider the
whole war service for women
scheme. The talk was of the
plainest. One woman said flatly
that for women to go to work in
the way the government pro-
posed. that is to say, uncondi-