South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-11-11

LII RDA 10 ahsf nave ItEtlFtu a icLAeE
| from their daughter VINO recently
passed the civil service examina-
lions at the local post office and is
now going government work in
I Washington. d. G. Miss Van Aiken
IS well known in this city having
ben employed at the Standard Oil
Co. for the past is years.
In The letter that Follows Miss Van
Aiken explains in an interesting way
the work that is being cone by the
women in the capital city 10 aid the
government in war work:
The Pullman car that l came
down was called Portage" and
veritable portage il has been to me.
/ stopped At the Powhatan hotel
the first night, with a young Scotch
girl from Seattle, Wash, who mo-
destly laid claim 20 having a mil
liOnaire in her family. She, her
self. was charming-a junior in the
university, who has come here 20
do her bit" After phOning Mrs.
Scott, 10 whom l was referred by
South Bend friends-I started bag
| and baggage for T ST., y. W., TO
secure a room with a friend Of
| hers, Mrs Weldon. The room is
south room, sunny and bright-but
papered red, and after looking at il
a while, l began 10 feel like a pirate
and il l had had a bludgeon l
think / could have crushed the skull
OF any German that showed aim-
self ] told Mrs. Weldon / never
could be happy in a room papered
red, and she thought the paper
could be remedied. I am obliged TO
90 out for my meals--and there are
% others around the table-so
did not feel exactly at home. / was
greeted at the door by the smell of
corned beef and cabbage-and how
ever bloodthirsty 1 may have felt
/ in the red room, / was ready TO
surrender when / met the unsur-
mountable-for know / never could
endure anything like those meals. l
am in for it for a week-but 1 will
! look around in the meantime. If
there was anything worse than the
coffee, with the same skinned
milk for cereals as for coffee) il
was the bakers bread-and every
thing else in sight. It's a crime TO
be brought up in a civilized home,
world.
I presented myself for duty on
Munday morning - and there were
about Is others waiting to be as
signed 70 places, among them
young man who said he was from
Utah-I Immediately asked IL he
were a Norman, and seeing him
look rather queer, 1 said, perhaps
that is a rather personal question
but he then said he was a Norman
and / asked him if he brought all
his wives with him; he denied that
there was any such thing as plural
wives-but l "Hae me doOts."
1 was given the oath of office
| and all sorts of papers to fill out
and sisn-giving my date and place
OF birth, that of my grandparents,
the address of my nearest relatives
and a complete description of my
self. something like this
Hair. brown; nose, natural; ears.
normal color, white; build. stout.
/ But all this was as nothing TO
! what was 10 follow; l was given a
note to Mr.. Dill, balloon section
and 1 thought I would go straight
up, but only went TO the Third
\ floor back" at 119 ID. ST., the old
: Southern R'y. bldg, which the
I government has taken over for the
/ use OF the air division Of the army.
/ There are seven or eight stories
and the whole air division of the
/ signal corps is in this building
am in the balloon section - j. T.
| Nance. colonel. signal corps. in
! charge; Col. Chandler, who was in
/ charge last week, left for France
| and Nance rose to the commission
/ of colonel over night; We also have
/ with us, Capt. Pleiss. Mai Dag
| gett and Mai. Mccoy, and these peo-
| pie walk around and talk 20 us
/ just like ordinary human beings. We
] are so close TO the front. that it
makes me shudder. We dispatch
/ flying sqUadrons Just the way the
mail is distributed at home in the
\ morning. If there is anything the
! equipment department needs in the
! latest on dirigibles-I could supply
/ II. on can gather from this just
| what mean when I say we are near
the firing line.
/ They say if I had been here last
| week-and had observed closely. L
/ might have seen Nance and Pleiss
walk in with their new insignia on
their arm, and have had a chance
! TO congratulate them. / don't know
| one mark from another, but may
/ be able 10 learn. II the recommen-
( dations from this office are acted on
/ favorab ly-it is the last word for
/ the balloon section-so you see
I realize the Importance OF my posi-
1 ton.
/ We have a very fine chief clerk,
| and ne said that my years of serv-
I ice with the standard oil Co. ought
/ 10 make me a valuable employe in
/ this department-and I told him I
= hoped IL would. So il il is any
, satisfaction 10 have been daily as
/ sociated with me-and my efforts
/ here merit approval or advance
I ment-you may feel that YOU share
/ in my honors. I take all my friends