Western Kansas world., 1917-11-08
WOMEN FILL MEMS PLACES
Tho Railroad Shops at Parsons Are
Now Employing Many Women
Girls AS Messengers.

Women in Overa1IS, large women
with strong hands and determination
plainly evident in their faces, now are
commonly seen in Parsons, for scare
ity of labor has reached such an acute
stage that even the toughest labor is
performed by feminine hands. Hun
dreds of women are employed by the
M. K. & T. Railroad, not only in the
general offices of the company, but
in the shops and yards, and even in
! the roundhouse. where women engine
wipers may be seen polishing up loco
motives with handfuls of waste.
The Western Union Telegraph Com
pany no longer can hire boys to de-
liver messages, so girls are paid $35
a month to carry them. Scores of
young men who, until they were call
ed to war, filled clerical situations in
the Katy's general offices, have been
succeeded by young women who Incl
dentally increased their monthly sti-
pends from $40 and $50 to $50 and
S85, respectively.
When the night baggage master at
the depot died, the right man to fill
his place could not be found, so
woman fell heir to his job. Women
| in the telegraph offices there used to
| be the exception, but now they. are
| the rule, while at different points on
| the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, women
| are acting as station agents. At a
| small town in Oklahoma, just across
| the state line, woman has charge
| of pumping station and does all the
/ work
| While women, by taking mems
place on the railroad company's pay
| roll, have largely relieved the short
| age of labor on the Katy, the farmers.
| it appears, have no such friends in
time of need. From all parts of La
bette county come appeals for assist
ance from farmers, many of whom say
] they have not been able to sow their
| winters wheat.
| X X
Kansas Librarians EIect.@The Kan
sas Library Association held it's an
nuaI session at the Emporia Public Lii
| brary recently. The following Off
| GERS were elected for next year., Ju-
lius Lucht, Wichita, president; Miss
Mildred Berrier,. Emporia,-- first vice
president; Miss Virginia Edwards.
Lawrence, second vice-president; Miss
Carrie Parks, Hutchinson, third vice
president; Truman r. Temple, Leav
enworth, secretary; Miss Lulu Price
Hays treasurer; Mrs. Theresa Ran
dolph, Pittsburg, member at large
The next annual meeting will be held
at Pittsburg.
y X
A Bio Kansas Prairie Fire--Fire
that spread over hundreds of acres o
prairie and farm land destroyed two
hundred tons of hay belonging to Will
Iliams Brothers and fifty tons of hay
belonging to Karl Wolf, southwest o.
Bentley The fire was famed by {
high wind and the dry grass permit
ted it to gain great headway befor'
| hundreds of farmers, called by tele
phone, rushed to the scene with we
sacks and coats, milk cans and buck
cts filled with water.
Coal Expert for fansas.-Emersol
( Carey. state fuel administration, ha
: received word from Washington tina
; an investigator familiar with Goa
. prices and dealers has been assigne
to him to help in the investigation be
ing made into retail coal prices owe
e he state
: X X
Train Killed Saiesman.-John
: Marshall, about 60 years old. a sale'
man of Winfield. was run over an
killed by Missouri. Kansas Tex
freight train. ten miles southeast G
Columbus recently.