The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1918-04-29
WORK or CENSORS
FULL OF THRILLS
Women of England Find in 1t a
Most Attractive and Lucra--
tive Professor.
HELP DRAW NET ON SPIES
System Is Perfect; One Marvels How
German Secret Agent Can Slip
Through, but Slip Through
He Does.

London.-The latest and, to wom-
an, the most attractive profession Is
that of postal censor. To the we'll
educated woman In her service, the
postal censorship offers opportunities
for advancement not to be found else
where. The pay ranges from $7.25
week while learning, rising by incre-
ments of 81 to $15 week, the maxi
mum for an examiner, with additional
war bonus. There are at least fifty
women earning more than $1,000
year, supervising thirty or forty exam
liners each. They have air risen from
the ranks.
Now they hold the proud title of D.
A. c. deputy Assistant Censor), to
which they have been elevated not so
much for their languages as for their
general capacity. One girl of nine
teen, engaged two years ago as
typist at s. week. rose to SIS with
in six months. Another, beginning at
$40 drew $40 within eight weeks.
Yet the plant of the deputy chief
censor is that 1--WE cannot get enough
of the right kind of women to be GEN.
sors.' The latter is the executive
head of that vast machine, created
mainly for restrictive measures. which
yet feeds with valuable information
not merely the war office, of which it
now forms an integral part, but the adj
miralty, the foreign Office with its off
shoots. the propaganda department,
contraband committee, and on which
the whole of our blockade activities
are based.
Is there enough of the right kind Of
romen anywhere? The right kind of
woman has many avenues open to her.
Some offer service in France-adven-
ture. romance, the making of history,
the glamor of the uniform and
chance of honor and glory. But the
woman censor, catch spies though she
may, gets but little limelight.
Heroines in Bureau.
There are women in the censorship
today with three or more years service
who are not least among the heroines
of war. They work in secret and in
silence, behind closed doors, and their
successes are hidden. They will not
even tell their friends where they
work, let alone what they do. Al
though the women examiners of mails
number some 1000, against some 800
male examiners, there has been little
mention of the women. The recent
decision Of the authorities to remove
some of the secrecy which shrouds the
woman censor will lead the right wom-
en- to apply for the work, though nat
orally there will be no disclosure which
can possibly be of use to the, enemy,
and the discipline habit of calling ev-
erything confidential will continue
experience is not demanded of recruits,
since the work of censorship was only
called into being by the harsh needs
Of war, and the censor's Office itself
is the only place where training and
experience can be obtained
The necessary qualifications are not
merely languages, and what they do is
j
tiers, as seems the general impression;
it is much more interesting than that.
There are women there who know no
tongue but their own; they have been
chosen for their Judgment and their
unquestionable discretion besides their
education and general knowledge. One
would emphasize the value of judg-
ment and the opportunities for exer-
cising it: it is question of weighing
up facts and coming to wise and rea-
sonable decisions the whole time. To
women with a happy blend of imagi-
nation and common sense the work ise
absorbing at times thrilling.
1t is an experience and an educa-
ton, privilege TO be part of this Won
derful mechanism. even as the hum
blest cog in its wheel of progress to
observe the details of its construction
and to watch it expand week by week
Censor 1'ightens Net.
For as the war Widens the censor
throws his net still further overseas,
tightening it until one marvels how the |
SStIGl S0IbiCc- agent CuL SIP |
through its manifold meshes, Slip |!
through them he does, and that is why |
the country needs her daughters to
help to outwit him.
In the women's army or navy the
average pay of officers is $625 to SS75,
with free quarters. They must leave
their homes, and to the woman who is
settled in London this Is a difficulty
But If the London dweller has not the
robust health that enables her all day |
to stand on her feet. though she can do
a good days work ION her head" If her
family falters at the thought of France,
let her come forward to the censorship
and stay in England. Here, as an or
binary censor or examiner of mails,
she will have responsibility, with scope
for individuality and the great chance
Of bringing a spy to book by her keen
ness in drawing close the net.
Gives Stamps for Change.
Warren. PA landlord here has |