The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-09-23
WOMEN n SApYARDS
% NEWS WORK WELL
Heaviest Manual Tasks Not
Too Great for Girls
Of Scotland.
GETTING GOOD WAGES
Silk Stockings Replacing
Cotton on Emergency
Workers.

Glasgow Correspondence OF tic
Associated Press.)--The women and
girls Of England and Scotland are
helping win the war by working as Ia
borcrs in the greatest Of the nations
shspbuilding plants. Elsewhere fc-
male workers perform duties which
arc made as light as possible for them
They drive motor cars and serve AS
clerks. But in the shipbnidine yards
they do work that heretofore was done
hy strong men.
In every yard there are hundreds
OF them and in one plant Just visited
Any n staff correspondent OF the Asso-
ciated Press 5000 OF them are etl-
Iloycd. They arc dressed in khaki
trousers and belted coats which reach
well above their knees Their hair Is
tucked up under little round khaki
caps. Rut they could never be mis-
taken for mcn---ncarly all of them in
sist upon wearing high -heeled shoes,
and their tastes run to silk stockings,
Six Hose Shows Wages.
These women and girls for the most
tatt- before they started building
ships--wo,o cotton hosiery. But nov
they earn their own money and as
they get the same pay fo, doing the
work men used TO do, they can afford
silk. In any shop or any yard they
can be seen CARRIED like this stand
ing at the front of forges heating riN-
cts. running electric machines and
cranes; manufacturing on lathes or
punching blades for turbines and do
jni, various things to great steel plates
which eventually. with others, will
form tho SIDES Of ships. Their hands
gct dirty with the grease, SCOT iron
stain and other dirts Of tho shipyards
l'ut their faces seem always to be
spotlcssly clean.
% Work OF Men.
Here is the Kind of work some of
them do Around = gigantic machine
on the banks Of the clyde the CORE
sponJcnt saw seven girls. meme over
20. lit heavy steel plate and Will"
some held il in place one guided II
punch and another swung ., lever OPP
Grating the punching mechanism. They
were working aa It their lives depended
upon speed and they worked like q
we'll trained team.
Tile machine adjoining Was q high
speed saws for cutting heavy steel
parts. Before this were standing tW,
,.irls-in hiGh hrClcd shoes, silk stock
tncs ana khaki suits. Both had OF
Yngr'cs TO project their eyes from tho
shaver OF shooting sparks from the
steel saw; their caps were pulled well
working hard and seemed to like it
.'ftcr working for four or five minutes
tho steel part had been sawed up into
the proper lengths. Then the saw WAS
stopped and the girl who had beer
doing the actual saving flicked stee
dust from her Jacket and proceeded ts
wipe pcrsur'tion from her brow witt
!: handkerchief about the s;tne size
a4 onr would expect 10 see in TIL,
hands of a shopper on Fifth avenue
Then she hoistcd her trousers after
the manner employed by sailors an,
went off 10 luncheon in "A special little
building which has been erected hs
the shipbuildng company for the com,
fort of its female employees.
Isn't Hard, They Say.
III isn't really hard work" sale
one of these girls, even if II is a litil.
different from the things we all have
been doing before. ] used 10 WORK
in til" office of q Glasgow hotel This
is rouGhrr, OF course, but then fee
that | am h"luiup my country. ane
besides, if | de- work u little harder
il doesn't huIt me aud | get NOR
monr","
turcmcu and managers nt many q
thc yards have said that they Nsr'
perfectly satisfied with tha work don'
hy tn" trmHl" cnpIoNo$ At least on
expressed himself rs being mor'
pleased WIIh Tia" work of the aomei
and girIs lhau he was With tho mel
Whose jobs thoy are filling. None, how
ever. WW'd Gwen venture" 10 CUES
what WiN Aaprvu when fhe men re-
rrn to the plants 'rum The army an,
uaNy after tn, war * over. With tn
dru"ud f"t tor, ..O", as great after til
Wal as ia /. uuW. huN,N,r, uHr man
a%'r 'hnW2'n Mat, tor SON" wears l.
."rur. glrl- ,1nd Women would =" work
il" IA lhr Yards.