The Washington herald., 1916-08-21
TROUSERED GIRLS
BUILD WARSHIP
English Munitions Plant Is
Turned Over to Women,
Who Make Big Shells.
By JOHN L, BALDERsToN.
(Copyright 1851

said my Scotch guide on the Clyde, as I
watched some hundreds Of girls and
young women building a battleship. They
were dressed in short skirts, with leather
aprons, stout boots, and upper garments
and caps much like those of their men
associates. who toiled on the heavier
labor while the women worked at the
lighter tasks
''DiIution Of labor" Is a phrase every
one is familiar with these days, but 1t
loses its dry and statistical sound when
It Is seen in operation 1t means, in the
great industrial plants OF Great Britain.
the introduction OF women into Jobs
formerly filled by men, as well as the
introduction Of non-union men into union
Jobs. There is more OF the former than
the latter. for the problem now is to get
men for the army, and the problems
raised by the Introduction of female
labor are thorny ones.
So far as I could see in the ship
building plants, however. men and
women get on well together, despite
the grievances felt on both sides
The women complain that they do not
get as much pay as the men, while
the perhaps biased foreman Of a great
yard said to me: What the union men
seem to complain OF most is that girls
come in here and learn in three weeks
what II took them seven years to
master. and then do It better into the
bargain"
No m-Feelipg Noticed.
However. no IIl-reeIing crops out at
work. The Scotchman is too chiYal-
rous for that. There Is a good deal
OF good-humored chatting. but I no
ticed many times that when a be-
grimed workman meets an equally
begrimed lady in a narrow aisle be-
tween the banks OF roaring machin-
cry. he always makes way for her
with as much circumspection as
though he were in a drawing-room.
Later I saw some thousands Of girls
making big shells, practically without
any masculine aid. A great and famous
American manufacturing company, with
2 big branch plant in-Scotland, employing
so0O men and women in peace time, has
turned over its whole works to the min
istry Of munitions, and some Of the same
machines that once made a well-adver-
tised article Of household use, are now
turning out shells. Most Of the machines
installed in the score Of buildings have
been scrapped, and new ones specially
turned out for shellmaking installed All
the men who worked here Swo years ago
have gone, either into the army or some
war occupation, and the few seen about
the premises are superfntendents or ex-
pert workers employed to do the few
iobs that require strength as well as
skill.
There Is nothing about shell-makins
that women can't do, and the delicate
Jobs, such as making fuses, where devt-
alton Of hundredth OF an inch will ruin
everything. are done far better by girls
than at other plants by men," said the
superintendent who showed US around.
1T is patience that does It This sort
Of work is Ike lace making, It requires
infinite patience, and since women have
more patience than men, they make bet
ter shells"
Scores of stages.
There are scores OF stages IN shellnak-
ing, and We saw them all Where IN
peace time 1000 workers were engaged.
140OO now toll IN three shifts, seven days
a week. The only time work ever stops
Is when a Zeppelin appears in the neigh
oorhood and all lights are ordered out
The largest plant Of all Is fed by
freight trains which come on a siding
and deposit tons upon tons OF material
that, stacked up outside. looks exactly
like street piping sawed into strips
These ragged cylinders. open at each
end. are the raw material OF great
howitzer proJectiles. They are carried
inside and commence the journey which
turns them out OF the building within
few hours Furnished shells, complete ex-
Of destruction, which are added to them
elsewhere. All the work in this building
IS done by women, with the exception Of
the minor and unskilled Job Of working
. bellows to fan forge that makes steel
bands white hot prior to their attachment
70 the shells.
While no figures concerning the total
output Of the factory can be given,
counted in this department more than
500 shells in various stages Of COM
pletion. They were no ordinary shells
either, but all Of one calibre, and that
large one, intended for long range work
against fortified positions. Nearly 900
girls were busy and half as many
machines humming continually. Curious
and touching, in a plant devoted to death
and destruction, were the little bouquets
OF wild flowers that stood before nearly
every worker. and the tiny punches Of
ribbon affixed to the business ike looks
ing machinery supplied by Mr.. Lloyd
George and his department Of munitions.
Like Any other Work.
asked the girls-the word comes more
naturally than the term women. because
not half Of the employees were over Il
whether they found shellmaking firing.
Most OF them seemed to feel that II was
like any other work. Like all other mu-
milton toilers, they have no holidays this
year. ana they Ieel that keenly, but they
know the guns on the Somme are hun
CRY end must be fed, and posted up
where every one can read are the words
Of the British commander-in-chief. "a
relaxation Of output even for a few days
might cost thousands Of lives and imperil
our whole position" Side by side with
this is a clipping from a dispatch from
British general headquarters announcing
that IN the first three weeks of the pres
ent great campaign five million shells
were fred from British guns into Ger
man lines.
The most delicate part Of shellmaking
IS the fuse work. because II the fuse
does not burn accurately the shell not
only will fail to damage the enemy, but
may by bursting prematurely strike down
British soldiers. This danger is a very
real one under conditions like the pres
ent when the trenches are close together
and the guns must send missiles to ex-
plode among the Germans only a few
yards from the Tommies. But the girls
are careful, very careful. They know
what depends upon their work The
strain Of adjusting fuses is very great,
and the girls who do 1t get higher pay
and work shorter hours than their COM
panions