The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-06-29
YOUNG WOMAN AND
I. HER PART IN WAR
------------
Female Helpers Find Many WAYS
to Aid Government.
MUST ECONOMIC IN SKILL.
Splendid Opportunities Await Those
Who Are Anxious to Assist
Should Be Able to Do Some.
thing Specific.
MUST ECONOMIC IN SKILL
BY MARY AUSTIN.
tFrom the Committee on Public Info,
1inn Wnrhir.rr4c.. n

BY MARY AUSTIN.
tFrom the Committee on Public Informa
ton, Washington, D. CO.
what snail she do, the young woman
al nome, who Is neither the mistress
OF the house nor a wage Garner? How
shall she turn back to the general no
count the care and schooling she has
mad and how satisfy the hungry desire
TO serve her country, which Is. thank
God, as characteristic of our youna
women as our young men? Every hour
since the war my telephone has been
ringing with questions like these.
Young men are captained and gen.
eraled. Expert supervision of their
patriotic service is at their elbows
They have the splendid inspiration of
togetherness, music, banners, shoulder
touching shoulder. Even wage-work-
ing women have a sense of direction
they see the work that passes through
their hands pushed steadily to an end,
But the young woman of brains and
education and leisure must captain
herself. She must find her own lob
herself.
In France and England the lone
woman had no problem, unless it were
the difficulty Of deciding which of the
many things to be done were to be
done first. But In America labor lead
ers have warned against clogging the
wheels OF war Industries with crowds
of unskilled women who know none of
the necessities of the wage earners.
This is the wage earners' opportunity
also, and no excess of zeal on our part
should rob them of the chance to carry,
as they are, the national burden. But
that does not mean that strong we'll
educated young women shall have no
part in this war but the traditional
handwriting from the balcony.
Capacity Going to Waste.
The first condition, however, of the
young woman's getting a specific thing
TO do is for her to be able to do some
thing specific. There is a great deal of
form!ess capacity going to waste in
every community waste Of talent and
waste of skill And 1t Is being wasted
largely because we have, as a people,
tallen a little into the weakness of
.delqocracies, and imagine we can do
nothing by ourselves. We think Of
something which seems desirable to
have done, and we rush out and or
ganize vast machines for cleaning the
streets, when all that was really need
ed was to sweep out our own front
yard Women who wish to fill a place
In the plans Of the government must
first trim themselves into some def
mite shape, as clerks. as secretaries, as
mechanicians, or what not
The trouble with much of our Amer,
lean life is that IT has made us like
those cooks who can cook delightfully."-
only so long as they have an unlimited
amount of the most expensive mate
rails. We have come to think that we
can do very little of anything without
the most expensive teachers and peda-
gogic equipment.
But 1t is not only in food that we
must economic now we must econo-
mize In skill. In every community of
5000, or even less, there is enough neg
iected skill to turn all of its unattached
young women into first-rate workers.
Take your town bank for instance.
There is an expert accountant there,
probably eating his heart out because
ne Is too old or physically unfit for
field service. He would be happy to
pass on his thirty-fve years of expert
ness to you. to be used as the govern
ment is going to have to use women
accountants.
La your fathers store, very likely,
there Is a man who could make book
keeper out Of you in three months, and
have the thrill of patriotic service at
the same time. If there is a Carnegie
library in your town, there is some
body there who can teach you card
cataloguing and filing. If you are for
tunate enough to live at the county
seat your opportunities for learning
clerical work are greatly increased.
Typewriting you can teach yourself.
Learn the touch system and how to
make clean carbons. A textbook comes
with every machine. and If you cannot
afford a machine, borrow one, or club
together with two others and rent one
for SO.
lndexing and filing are both in de-
mand In all departmental work; though
II will not be so easy to find oppor-
tunity for learning them in towns I'M
der 10000. But telegraphy can be
learned even in the rural districts. A
few hours from an obliging local OPP
orator, good text book. and small
Morse outfit which can be set up be-
tween two farms, will carry you
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