Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-03-29

war u being more and more antici-;
pated ~ the labor leaders who SAY
the women must 80 In favor OF tns
men when the time comes.
MI BY far the largest proportion OF the
women now employed In Berlin are
unskilJed NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 600,0OO OF
the 900, 600. or the remaining 300,0OV
skilled workers only q small part arc
customariiy SO employed. They have
done wonderfully well, even in such
difficult and strenuous occupations ~
metal workers, but they are not. be-
cause OF physical handicaps, the equal
to their male predecessors.
I, Just how large win be the number
Of widows. or women left with crippled
husbands, after the war, the labor
leaders do not attempt as yet to esti-
mate. These, on the one hand. con-
stitute however, but part Of the prob
lem. Fully as puzzling is the ques-
ton of what to do with those women
who, tho they later will have other
means of support. are expected de-
liberately to balk at retiring to nom
productive life again.
The employer who IL able to hire
women more cheaply than men. Will
be loath to change to the old method,
and for D. time Is not going to be able
to afford It, A not inconsiderabie de-
gree Of diplomacy combined with
judicial use of compulsion is going TO
be necessary, labor leaders feel. Defors
the problem can be adjusted.
There is hardly an occupation into
which women have not crowded DUR
ing the past year. The employment
Of women as street car conductors -
already an old and familiar condition.
and women "motormen" have become
more or less familiar sights even IN
the busy downtown streets OF Berlin.
The first woman taxicab chaufeurs
was noted early last summer, and sne'
has multiplied somewhat since then.
The construction company building tho
new tube under the Friedrich Strasse
connecting the northern and southern
sections Of the city has for months
employed feminine "huskies," young
and, old, in sfoveling out the sandy
underpinning Of the street.
Two years ago the streets OF the
capital were cleaned by men Of milf
tary age. Their places were taken
by boys. and now women are being In.
troduced as fast as the youths grow
10 to military age and enter the army.
It Is q common sight on any street, 70
see coal being carried into residences
from teams by women instead Of men.
The underground railway companies
Of Berlin months ago installed women
as ticket choppers. and then intro.
duced them as guards. When It was
found that their dresses frequently got
caught In doors. the companies did not
60 back TO male help but ordered tno
women to don boomers, and today
there are more Of them to be seen
than men. ss
Even Germans, accustomed to See
ing women performing heavy duties.
gasped little when they heard that
the steam railroads, in addition to IN
staIling women at the stations for
minor duties. had put them in as track
walkers, switch tenders and track
layers. Yet the Prussian railways to-
day have a large number OF women
now in their employ.
It is almost universally admitted
that the women do not adequately sup-.
stitute for the men. Women conduc-
tors. for instance. are said to De ABOUT
so per cent as efficient as their male
predecessors and only about halI OF
those who go to work as conductors
are able to stand the strain. There
has been a notable increase in certain
women's diseases resulting directly
from this work. @
Few Of the trades are harder or
more strenuous than metal work.
which just now. Of course -
booming because Of the need OF am
munition Yet there are thousands OF
women thus employed today, who do
not seem to mind the heavy work. and
who are earning, relatively. a great
deal Of money. s