Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-19
National Service for Anerica--By Isaac F. Marc0ssC

repair Of tho mining plant ana machin-
cry. without which the making OF steel
for ships and shells would come to
standstill. Or 1t may be for some other
engineering work essential to victory.
One thing is certain: If you have
strength skill with your hands. You
are wanted to enroll for national serv-
Ice"
Not only did tho appeal for national
service blaze from every billboard and
newspaper, the school and the church
took 1t up. Lecturers were sent through
out the country. pleading the cause No
detail was overlooked to give them a
complete equipment. For one thing; each
speaker was furnished with book OF
readymade speeches and list of ques-
tons that answered every conceivable
query that could be hurled at him.
u
Neville Chamberlain himself went on
a speaking tour which reminded me of
the famous oratorical junkets of Will
liam Jennings Bryan in the frenzied
days of free silver agitation. No spe-
cialized group. from bankers to farm
managers. escaped his eloquence.
Even the clergy was urged to join.
To the curate, who. up to this time, be-
Iieved that minfstering to the spirit
was his sole war task. it was pointed
out he might become any one of the
following: Naval chaplain. army chap
lain munitions chaplain, hospital chap
lain, hut manager, canteen manager,
munition worker. clerk, secretary, Of
fee worker. plowman, cowman or
dairyman.
Scores CT ingenious little schemes to
concentrate energy so that fit men
could be released TO fight came into
being. One of them, for example was
the pooling Of interests by both whole
sale and retail tradesmen. In small
towns. where several shops sold the
same articles, all the trade was CEN
tered in one. This enabled the clerks
in the others to join the army.
The same rule was applied to the
bakeries. In many towns. all the
baking was concentrated in a few es-
adjustments. Those that did not close
were compelled to give the others
fair proportion of the profits arising
from the additional business. In this
way cooperation became one of the
wartime benefactions.
The plan was even extended to the
small weekly country papers. In
Peterborough, for instance, the two
weekly journals consolidated
The most picturesque feature de-
veloped by the national service cam
patgn, however. was the organization
of what came to be known as the pet
ticoat army. At the outset director
of national service for women was
appointed, in the person of Mrs. H. j.
Tenant, a strong, capable and domi-
mating personality, who had served on
the royal labor commission. on the
divorce commission, and who had head
ed the central committee for the en-
employment of women. She had two
sons fighting in the army. Therefore
when she made her appeal to the wom-
en- of England to do their bit" she
was speaking as one who had already
done little more than her share.
There was no great question as to
what the women could do in the mat
ter of releasing men for the army. In
France were thousands of abiebodied
soldiers in khaki who were acting as
cooks. walters, clerks, telephone and
telegraph operators and storehouse
men. 1t was work that ablebodied
women could easily do, and they now
set about to do it.
The woman'S auxiliary army was or
ganized. 1t was divided into two sec
lions. One of them was devoted te
domestic work and consisted mainly oil
cooks and mattresses. The second was
the technical corps, and was COM
posed of telegraphers, telephonists
stenoEraphers, typewrfterS and postal
clerks. These women wear khaki uni
forms, consisting Of a long tunic, short
skirts and purtees. a dark brown felt
hat. turned up on the side, after tbe
manner of the Australian soldiers
headgear. completes the costume. The
officers are known administrators,
while the non-commissioned officers
are subadministrators.
This Amazonian host was trained and
drilled before leaving England precise
ly like a unit of fighting men. No wom-
an under twenty or over forty is ac-
cepted. ] saw a group of the woman's
auxiliary army just before it went to
France 1t was the first contingent, and
they Were bronzed. sturdy lot. One
of them told me that she was just as
willing to handle gun a skillet.
The period of enlistment for this worK
is for a year. subject to one month s
notice. except for misconduct or in
competence when only a week $ no
tice is given. A bonus of twenty-five
dollars is given to each woman. ir-
respective of grade, upon the renewal of
her agreement to serve another
twelve months The pay is considerably
higher than that received by the Tom
my.
Within a month after the institution
of this form of national service more
than twenty-five hundred able-bodied
soldiers had been released from camp