The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-09
ACT AS CONDUCTORS

A year ago no one would have thought
 that women would drive and act as con- ductors on trolley cars. but today women are doing both in London and Glas~ " and other big English cities and doing it very well. Thousands of women are driv- ing motor delivery vans for the big stores and wholesale houses, and women have proved that it is libel to say that they lack the mechanical mind for thousands of women are working all day and far ito the night in machine shops turn ing out shells for the troops. Incidental ly, they have proved that the trade union
 rules have resulted in the past in large restriction of output, for these unskilled
 women have turned out work in every case quite up to the average in both
 quality and quantity and in many cases
 far above the average. A case was cited
 tc the starring committee a few days ago of a woman in a shell factory whose
 production was just five times that of the skilled man she replaced, and the
 quality of her work was quite as good
 Some of the hardest problems to solve
 are those presented by employers who de-
 clare that their work requires long train-
 ing which, of course, the women are unable to get in the time. This is some
 times complicated by doubt as to the necessity of the work to be done. A
 typical case was that of the printing
  The committee decided to refuse all pro- lection to the printing trade in general, but to give certain amount to the news papers, on the ground that the dissem- ination of news about the war was a necessary national work The newspaper were then invited to say what classes of their employees they considered Indispensable, and what classes could be replaced by women. They promptly claimed exemption for all their employees but the committee as promptly declined to star reporters, subeditors and proof readers. They agreed to star pressmen, or machinists, as they are called here, as it was conceded at once that their W ork was difficult and danerous and couldl not be entrusted to women. They declined to star hand competitors and have not yer made up their minds about linotype operators. They declined, of course, to star any of the commercial and advertis- ing staff, but they agreed to star a cer- tain proportion of the publishing staff l As a matter of fact few men of military age remain in either the literary or com posing room staffs of the British news papers except those who have been or would be rejected for the army on med ical grounds. TRADE TROUBLESOME
 Another trade that has given the com mttee a lot of trouble is the grocery trade. In London and most of the other large towns the retail grocery trade is | largely in the hands of few big multiple shop companies, which employed thou 1 sands of men of military age The pro- prietor of one of these shops told the l the other day that the entire ] staff at one of his principal depots had enlisted three times over since the warl began and that he was just then start | ing on his fourth staff. This particular firm has replaced it's men largely by wom- en, but the proprietor pleaded for the | exception of certain proportion of his | iren. It was impossible, he pointed out, 1 to get women, or even men over mili- i tary age ;n sufficient numbers, who could handle sides of bacon. tubs of butter, and do the heavy work necessary in a 1 big retail provision business
 Women have taken the place of the male letter carriers in many districts. Most of the elevators in London now are run by women. girls have taken the places of boy messengers, girls are delivering groceries and small parcels on bicycles and girls are driving lignt motor tricycle. vans. The office girl has replaced the office boy in thousands of business houses thus releasing her brother, if not for the front, for the more useful and profitable work of making munitions. Business men say that she is a great ir ,provement on her brother, because she shows up in time in the morn-