Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1917-05-05

on the sidewalk outside Of il, engaged
in the gentle art of directing custom-
ers to and from their cars and cabs
and incidentally keeping the chauf-
feurs in order.
An extremely pretty girl she is, too,
with her frockcoat coming to her
knees, her topboots coming to the
coat, and now and then, when the
wind blows, a glimpse of loose knick-
ers. She tells me that she's never had
man stare at her since she appeared
in the new livery, although women
have been curious about it and even
critical of it. Women have done all
the staring to which she has been SUBJ
jected.
Within the store many girls en-
gagged in various especial employ
ments are dressed conveniently for
their work in perfectly frank trousers.
Among these are the girls who oper-
ate the elevators. There is no COM
promise about it. These girls wear
absolutely trousers every working
hour of every working day in great
public store in great crowded city,
rubbing elbows (even touching trous-
cred knees inevitably with hundreds
of men daily.
And they like it They work better
in the new uniforms than they used
to in skirts and are less weary at each
days end. And nobody worries them
at all. There has not been the faint
est suspicion of an insult or an adj
vance from any one of the thousands
of men and boys of all classes whom
they have ridden with upon their .
lifts" sometimes in dense crowds,
sometimes in an involuntary tete-a-
tete
The women omnibus conductors
keep their vehicles nearly as close to
schedule as their male predecessors
did. They are far better tempered
with the travelling public (although
they often look pitifully tired), and
are said to be very exact and able in
the management of their complicated
work of collecting fares differing with
the distance traveled-a very much
more complicated matter than the
average American conductors job of
merely collecting nickel from each
traveller. They are called "conduc-
tresses." All French trans and buses
have "conductresses."
The coming of women cabmen in
London is nevitable-indeed, it al
ready has begun. In Paris they have
been established sparsely for some
time and have done we'll, but they
have not been used on taxis, only on
the horse cabs.
| have spent most of my time in
Paris for some months now, and have
ridden behind women drivers fire.
quently. They drive carefully and
well and are much kinder to their
horses than the old, red-faced, brutal
French coac4lers are. | like them.
They have a wonderful command of
language, not always entirely or even
partially polite, but they are accom-
modating and less greedy for tips
than male drivers.
The coming summer will see an
immense amount of England's farm
ing done by women and, | think, we'll
done. Organizations already are UNI
der way whereby women propose to
help decrease the food shortage by
intelligent increase of the chicken and
egg supply, and this is being so we'll
planned that undoubtedly it will sue
ceed
| have met three ex-stenographcrs
who now are at hard work, two of
them in munition factories (making
military engines of death) and one OF
them on farm. l asked them how
they liked the change,
Without exception they declared
that they were pleased by it. One of
them was a little gloomy. predicting
a lonely future owing to the shortage
of men which will follow the war