Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1918-03-21

tremely careful about the characters
Of the women he employs, for the i'm
portant reason that one undesirable
woman can completely demoralize a
whole department Either her influ-
ence is bad, or the other women will
resent her presence and designations
without explanation will follow in
rapid order.
One manufacturer says that women
between the ages of IS and 81 make
the. best workers. Girls under IS
have not usually reached their maxi
mum physical development, and
above the age of 81 have become too
set in their ways to learn new pro-
cesses quickly or to adapt themselves
to new conditions. This particular
gauge of efficiency might apply
equally to men, he admits.
There is one great difference be-
tween men and women mechanics,
however, which manifests itself early
in the training of the woman worker.
Women have no mechanical knowl-
edge, as a rule. They do not realize
the importance of dimensions, nor do
they pay any attention to mechanical
strength or requirements. They do
what they are told to do and never
seek to question the reason for it.
This is sometimes annoying in the
beginning, but satisfactory in the end,
since when woman once masters 4
mechanical process her work is uni
formly good, whereas man who pos
sesses a certain mechanical, knowl-
edge will produce uneven results. At
least this is the experience of one
manufacturer.
Another manufacturer believes
that clothes are one of the most i'm
portant considerations in the employ
ment of feminine labor He says that
women are more self-conscious-
conscious, he calls it-than men, In
their desire to attract men they make
clothes their greatest ally. Hence,
says this observing employer, the
woman who Is better dressed than
her neighbors is always self-conscious
and therefore less efficient, and the
same is true of the woman who is not
as well dressed as the others. The
only way out of this difficulty is to
insist upon q uniform.
The uniform, of course, is the
greatest safeguard against industrial
accidents, but 1t also makes the fac
tory safe for efficiency There is
nothing like a plain blue uniform of
some unfadable material to keep
peace in the factory. The women
may object to it in the beginning, but
1T is a popularity of feminine psy-
chology that women will accept any
ruling, however disagreeable, provid-
ed it is enforced impartially and no
favoritism shown" is the interesting
conclusion of this manufacturer-psy-
chologist.
There is a difference of opinion
concerning this point however, for
another employer comes forward with
the statement that women are not as
jealous, as men, if there is just
reason for the favoritism shown.
Thus when the management of his
factory learned that one of the wom-
en- workers was attempting to sup
port a paralyzed husband and three
children and gave her a more remun-
erative job, the other women did not
object at all, but congratulated the
management.
But from this it may be seen that
there is wide difference in the psy-
chology of the male and female work
era difference that must be taken
into account by all employers. Some
even go so far as to assert that there
is difference between women and
women, the masculine type of woman
being much harder to deal with than