Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-26


employer.
Four departments of the government CO.
operate with the Department OF LABOR III
this work, namely, the Department OF
Agriculture Department of Commerce
Department of the Interior and the Post
Office Department. Sixty thousand post
Offices, distribute application blanks ana
envelopes Each envelope Is Irahkeu anu
addressed to the nearest employment oHlce'
which insures for the applicant the m
valuable aid of the bureau. The apph.
cant is not minus so much as piece ol
paper or a stamp. ana ices 30 peseis.
The objects of this employment service
are two-not only satisfactorily TO place
women and girls. but also to serve as
reliable base for the dissemination OF
useful information and honest ADVICE;
Headquarters are, of course, in WASH
ineton. Branch offices from New York 10
San Francisco turn naturally to the ash.
ington office in emergencies, ana tnls puaS
a heayyresponsibility on the nome ONCE
the responsibility assumed oS
capable leader.
Mrs Grace Porter Hopkins is the official
head of the Washington division ana con-
fesses to a profound desire to make her
office a MODEL one in every particular;
Mrs Hopkins. club woman and a social
worker has been actively engaged IN OPEN
ing new federal employment othces IN
various cities and has had the pleasure OF
seeing their progress surpass her fosiesl
expectations. Nov, IN
The Washington office has been IN
operation for approximately three
months, and its growth in that time
has, indeed. been phenomenal. In June
it placed 23l women and sirls, IN July
it placed 500. In one astonishing day
alone twenty-five people secufeu posi-
tons they sought.
In Washington the majority OF the
applicants are in search of clerical
employment. though every conceiFaois
type of worker is represented \
large number of seamstresses and gov
ernesses are registered, also sales
women, bookkeepers, typists. stenog-
raphers, teachers and nurses
Less than per cent of the APP
nlicants are domestics." said Mrs. Hop
kins. IN fact the demand for domestic
help far exceeds the supply
Through this Office women are given
the opportunity of doing their bit Tor
Uncle Sam in munition factories Wom-
en- and girls are safely transferred
from city to farm, and from farm TO
city, from city to seashore. ana from
city to city, if they so desire me ann
of the bureau is not only 10 md the
applicant work, but, if possible, TO iind
the work that is most congenial
While every effort is made to place
girls over sixteen years of age. pro-
spective wage earners uhder sixteen are
invited to confer With the bureau
They are kindly questioned as to the
line of work they prefer. and are then
advised to pursue course OF stuus
best fitted to meet their requirements
This in itself is big work ana de-
mands tact, sympathy and great care
as it probably goes far toward deciding
a girls entire future.
So far the youngest applicant at the
III, Gir,a iC
age The exact age of the oldest
Mrs Hopkins declined to reveal.
though she did. rather hesitatingiy,
confess that one applicant was peril
ously near a hundred years ana
ma thetically eager to find work.
The bureau is most sincere in its en-
deavor to assist the employer as well
as the employe. thus earning Ultimate
" n greater appreciation from both
narties. The application cards for en-
ployers very materially facilitate in
fulfilling this end. These cards state
the employers need. the class of work
he wishes handled, the salary he is
willing TO pay, etc.
A glance at one of these cards Will
satisfy Mrs. Hopkins as to whether or
not she has at that moment the EN-
ploye whom he wants. il she has
and she more often has than not. as
the records will show-she telephones
that particular employer. perhaps asks
A question or two and sends over the
aopeful applicant.
X y
THE service at the office is now
largely telephonic. Mrs. Hopkins
stated though. of course, the office
has its quota of written communica-
lions and appeals"
Mrs. Hopkins cited a few extremely
interesting cases that have come under
her immediate observation. One was
of a homesick Maryland woman who
lived in Oklahoma and who had wanted
for a long time to return to her native
state but had been unable to make
the opportunity. An old Maryland
friend sent the Oklahoma woman an
account of the governments wonderful
new work in behalf of women and girls.
, The little woman in Oklahoma lost no
time writing to Mrs. Hopkins. She