El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-03-25
GIRLS WORK AS
CONDUCTORS Of
LONDON BUSES
In Nobby Uniform They
Handle Impatient Passen-
gers in Good Shape.
INVADING ALL THE
TRAFFIC SYSTEMS

T ONDON. Eng March 25.-Girls
have now made their appearance
[ - here as omnibus conductors. talk
ing the place Of men drawn into the
army. Their duties are more arduous
than those of street car conductors,
which women have been performing
I with satisfaction for some time but all
are giving satisfaction.
The Uniform.
Here is the uniform Of the London
| General Omnibus company "conduc-
Rather long Norfolk jacket Of blue
| cloth. trimmed with white piping.
Skirt Of the same material, not
! longer than about three inches below
! the knees.
Long cloth and leather CATERS; boots
with low heels.
Blue soft felt Alpine" hat; the brim
caught up at one side. Trimmed with
white piping and l.. G. o. c. badge in
front.
Every girl also receives a macintosh
for use i'm wet weather.
Experiments have shown the neces-
sity for a very short skirt, as a con-
ductor has to be continually up and
down the stairs. which are often wet
and muddy In this respect omuibuses
present greater difficulties to girl con-
ductOrs than tramcarE, on which they
are already serving in considerable
numbers
Hundreds Of Applicants.
There are 20 girls in training for the
work at the present time. and that
number will be largely increased before
long. Between 800 and 500 applicants
present themselves every day, and
few OF the most likely are accepted as
pupils Training in the arts Of punch
ing tickets, giving change, making out
way bills, and tactfully dealing with
passengers lasts about n fortnight and
Finishes nth actual xa-nr1r q Landau
bus full Of people from the training
school whose business II is to test the
conductors Quickness. patience and &C
curacy.
The girls are paid at precisely the
same rates as the men, and work the
same number OF hours. A bus cOnduc-
tor earns on an average at the present
time from $40 to SLIPS week, and he
is on duty from IL to 10 hours day.
Shyness, a correspondent was told, is
one Of the first obstacles to success that
the pupil has to surmount To call out
ANY more fares. please" i'm loud
enough voice. and not TO be afraid 10
tackle an obstreperOus crowd Of pas
sengers struggling 20 get in while
others are struggling TO get out. are
tasks that take a lot Of learning in the
case Of the average young woman.
The reason why the company IS
bringing women into the public service
is that 5000 of its male employees have
already gone to the war. while hun
dreds more are grouped under the Der
Tho great traffic combine which has
its center at Electric house is also be-
coming a large employer of female la
Dor in other directions. There are $50
ticket collectors and examiners. book
ing clerks, lift attendants and station
porters WorlSin on the various under
ground railways in the combine, and
the operating manager states that they
are doing VERY well indeed.
Before long the feminine atmosphere
will nermeate the whole traffic system
Of London. Here are the latest figures
showing the number Of women en-
ployed by some Of the principal public
services In all cases they represent
only a beginning
T.. c. C.. trams.-Nearly 900 at work
or in training.
conductors at work.
London United trams-Nearly 100
conductors.
North Metropolitan trams.-One-third
OF total number Of conductors.
A good deal Of doubt was felt at first
about the employment Of women on the
very large and heavy cars on. the /. C.
C. and other metropolitan roads. but
Inquiries show that they have not had
any difficulty, either in performing
such comparatively heavy manual tasks
as 1nanipulatin- the trOllev-pole and
reversing the handbrakes at the end OK
a journey, or IN collecting the enormous
number Of fares on crowded cars dur
ing the morning and evening rush
There appears TO be no prospect at
present Of women being allowed to
drive Omnibuses or trans Nor have
the obstacles in the way OF licensing
women as taxicab drivers vet been got
over I'm London, though some provincial
cities are finding the plan a distinct
success.