Evening star., 1915-03-07

like the suffrage. Women and girls
who real plucked uns, as the
slang phrase goes. and who are now
learning to shoot and to ride, and. III
cidentallS, being Systematically
drilled by retired military non-coms
exactly as the recruits to kitcheners
new army are being trained, and with
the identical handbook to guide them
You will get some idea of the spirit
of these women when 1t Is sad that
most of them are hard workers, such
as typists. clerks, teachers, shop as
sistau1s with no time to call their
OWL except evenings and saturday
afternoons, they are devot'ng every
moment of these to fitting themselves
to be of use should crisis suddenly
arise in this country. They represent
all grades of society, even down to
cooks and housemaids, for 1t is an
amusing fact that several women OF
title have had to transfer to announcer
company because they found them
selves forming fours' with their own
servants, which did not seem quite eH-
pedient
High and low alike. however, they all
are in sober earnest. Doomed up to
now to knit and play at first aid.
while their brothers and sweethearts
went forth to face the guns OF tne lof'
they welcome with delight this chance
to do their Bit and do it they surely
will when the time comes.
Jp to now, it is true. the members OF
the Women's Volunteer Reserve have not
been granted official permission to pear
ar,ns-though wire pulling by powerful
hands to that end is in progress-but'
nightly, bodies of them flock to various
rifle ranges and put in a couple sof hours
of hard practice, and one would not like
to hazard a guess as to how many OF
them have secretly provided themselves
with firearms. Nor does the military train
ing of these women and girls, who are
clad in a uniform that is as nearly a re
plica as that of the khaki-clad real war
riors as the authorities will permit. stop
with .he matters that have been men-
toned These girls who go alike from OF
fees and the drawing rooms at the end
of the day to the headquarters of the re-
serve, are taught signaling by both tho
semaphore and Morse codes, instructed in
fencing and camp cookery and trained III
the art of carrying dispatches-the last
by means of motor cycles-and are also
given Swedish drill and Schooled in all
the elements of nursing, to the end that
they may be OF service on the battlefield
in other ways should they not be encour
aged OF even permitted to take part in the
actual fighting
Every Saturday afternoon, moreover
they go route marches-in London
last Saturday, for example, about 40 of
the metropolitan corps did about ten
slush that the big city has seen in score
OF years, and came back fresh as paint
and as soon weather conditions in
the spring make it possible they are going
to have regular camps. where they will
go in for trench digging, study sanitation
and learn to live on the country ac-
cording to one of the most famous pre-
cepts Of the great Napoleon.
So the hour may come, you see. should
the kaisers hosts, who already have
a invaded England by air, accomplish the
feat of landing on these shores, when
q A Paul Revere in skirts. astride of a
motor bicycle. may spin through every
: Middlesex village and farm" warning
t the country folk Cor at least such of
$ the female portion thereof as belong to
: the Women's Volunteer Reserve). to be
: up and to arm. the while a friend,
z likewise in petticoats, is hanging a
z lantern aloft in some English equiva-