The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1916-11-30
NATIONAL EDITORIAL SERVICE o THE WHEELING II
WOMEN AND the WAR
The Entrance of Into All Occupations During the Wa
Is Proving the Salvation of Great Britain.
BY LADY FRANCES BALFOUR
Author and Lecturer
Author and Lecturer.

! ucalion that has enabled them 10 serve
in the front rank Of those called upon
! in the hour Of the nations need.
! one of the most humorous of the diff
T fiCultieS has been 10 convince those de-
t parlments that have vested rights in
! bigottcd ignorance that there are
, spheres into which men should never
, have obtruded, and from which they
! can be at once released.
Whom the new armies were being or
ganiHed great camps and military cen
/ lers had TO be instituted and the prob
! lem Of catering and cooking came be-
! fore the authorities for solution.
! Trained women CoUks existed all over
! the country. and il occurred 10 those
who had to watch the employment of
! able-hodied young men In wastefuL
dirty and methudless cooking, that
these might be released 10 greater
profit, and that women caterers and
cooks would make the rations, so law
| ishly paid for by the nation. so further
and be of more benefit 10 The conSurl'
| erS.
a vote taken from the army would
| have instantly settled the matter. Men
sickened Of the disgusting and unva-
| ried routine Of badly cooked Stews and
greasy tea. The camps became the
centers of the shameless waste of good
! food and the corruption Of the public
conscience.
None of these things moved the red
tabs Of officials. Waste was nothing
compared to the danger Of any lnno-
walton, and more than a year went past
before The Woman's League" got
foot into the nations kitchens. and the
! reign Of economy and comfort 10 the
soldier came in with them.
The Munitions Department was
new one. and had not to observe any
traditions OF ineptitudc. BY the time
munition making became more import
ant than the number Of men called 10
serve wome nsprang 10 the vast ma,
chinerv of war. and, by the "dilutiOn
of those who drive. the machine has
been kept at full speed day and night
Not only were women found 10 be
! efficient learners, but they have speed
ed up the work in all departments. No
trades union discipline has Slapped the
springs Of their zeal for output. Some
have failed in strength. none have gone
down in spirit. Of heir best they nave
given through the long watches OF day
and night, and the verdict of their over
seers has been that their spirit has
been that Of fanatics. The greatest
innovation has been the recoenitlon
that the woman is worthy Of her hire:
! Usually she has been paid the equal
wage for equal work. and the. living
, wage has sustained her body for the
exacting demands made upon her
strength.
With her new place in the social
economy. the former things have
PASSED away. never 10 return. Those
who have proved themselves fit to con-
tribute to the nations strength in the
time of stress can never again suffer
oppression Of weakness from the body
polite. ou,,.;.r
The highest hone of the fighting man r
is 10 return in peace 10 his occupation
and home. EIe will find that the home
has been kept together, and his own
wavraring sustained by the women;
'rhc relations of capital and labor WI
need reimbursement. buI it will have 10
hn settled on terms which admit once
and forever that woman's work in war
limo has made a new place for her IN
thc reconstructed social fabric Of the
nation.