New Britain herald., 1916-03-31
MILLIONS OF WOMEN
 TOLL IN ENGLAND
War Has Turned All Glasses Into
 Workers,

Correspondence of The Associated Press)
 London, March 14.--IJardly less re- marka blo than the swift transforma- ton of England into a powerful mili- tary nation has been the silent up heaval that has placed the civil work and the industries of the workshops in the hands of women. It has been estimated from official figures that there were fully 2,O0O,00O more wom~ en in active employ on March i, 1916, than on the corresponding day twelve months earlier. Moreover, the num- Der is increasing week by week.
 All Classes Included.
 Every class of women, including those previously regarded as leisured and well-to-do, are adding to the total. The call is reaching the remotest ham, let's as well as the quiet market towns, and the women and girls are respond ing. The women are mobilizing in a great army, ready to serve wherever they are most needed-even to the hard labor of the tilling of the soil.
 Such changes in the national, com mercial and industrial spheres are naturally creating considerable read justment of social conditions with the result that the Young Women's Chris tian Associa ton. Women's Unions, suffragist organizations and scores of women's club arc confronted with many new problems in helping to care for the thousands of women suddenly thrown into a new environment.
 Face Many Difficulties.
 The initial difficulty to be dealt with
 
 CTS in the munition factories. All sort of factories have been requisi toned in the provincial towns up and down the country, calling for large drafts of workers from outside. Lodg ings have been hard to find. and, of course, following all laws of supply and demand, have been costly, even if they could be found at all. Rail- way communications with places at any distance have been unsatisfactory especially for those on the night shifts. Only in the larger centers Of population has the service of tram cars or omnibuses been of any help to those living at a distance.
 Thousands upon thousands of young women and girls were suddenly shift l ed from their familiar surroundings Tn l the larger cities to the new life in the | country where many of the huge mu- l milton factories have been erected. 1 The manufacture of high explosives is l not permitted in the vicinity of homes. 1 Therefore, canteens had to be estab- liShed close to such works so that the l women would not have to go long l distances for their meals, and relieve l them of much fatigue and strain. Colony of Workers.
 Perhaps the ideal conditions have been reached by one famous firm en- gagged in the manufacture of cordite. A colony for the workers was erected ! in a long series of wooden huts each containing some twenty-eight tWo- bedded rooms. In the center of all is dining hall with perfectly equip ped kitchen, a recreation room, and a small model hospital. As soon as these plans had been approved the firm had one of the women's organiza- tions take up the responsibilities for l them in behalf of the girls employed Public imagination is more stirred 1 at the idea of womens labor in shell, 1 fuse and explosive making than it is 1 over the vast army engaged in the ] more humdrum round of business rou- l tine. But the fact is that the woman 1 who is forced to work in the offices 1 of the government, municipalities, l banks, factories and stores is much l worse off than her sister in the muni- | tiOnS works. She receives less pay ] and very little attention is paid to her 1 welfare. But she is sustaining the l fabric of the state to no less extent.