The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-03-08
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director,
Washington, D. c.
THE WOMAN AND HER JOB.
I.-Win She Keep It?


several industrial commissions which
have recently investigated the prob
lem.
For aproblem it has become. 1t
is estimated that a million women
have entered American industries
since the war began, the majority
undertaking jobs that were formerly
supposed to be only within the mas
culine capabilities. The lady street
car conductor is no longer an anoma-
ly in our city transportation systems;
the woman elevator operator is no
longer curiosity, and we are getting
used to women bank clerks, just as
in the factories they are getting used
to women mechanics.
All this widespread employment of
women, however, has been looked
upon as merely temporary. 1t has
been taken for granted that during
the war women would fill the places
of men, and that after the war was
over they would politely hand them
back again. But two things have
occurred to upset these optimistic
| calculations Women are exhibiting
a disconcerting satisfaction with their
| jobs, and their employers a discon-
| certing satisfaction with their work.
In Europe, for example, where the
! substitution of women in the places
! CT men has proceeded to an even
| greater extent than in this country,
women have developed an unexpected
liking for mems work. Women cooks
and shopgirls and seamstresses are
| becoming rapidly scarcer in England,
| it is reported, for-the women all in
| sist upon either filling the soil or
making munitions. The other day
London tea shop advertised for a
| waitress, but, in the face of a short
| age of feminine applicants, had to
employ man.
In this country, too, women are
beginning to show a certain prefer
/
| doubt for the reason that they pay
| the most money. At a meeting of
| labor delegates a short time ago, an
attempt was made to pass a resolu-
| occupations that were considered
| harmful for them, but it failed.
Women may some day be presi-
cents of the United States,'' was the
protest voiced by a workwoman, land
| it would be a mistake to exclude
| them from the opportunities that any
| job offered
| Another popular belief to be shat
| tered recently is that women look
| upon their worl, as a stepping-stone
from school to marriage. Investiga-
| tons have shown that the majority
| OF the women workers who marry
! these days hold onto their jobs even
when it is not absolutely necessary.
| The only difference between work
ing in a factory and working in your
| own home" said a married woman
In answer to question as to why
she went on working not long ago,
rs that you get paid for one and
| don't for the other"
| These are some of the reasons why
| close observers of the ind ustrial sit
| uatlon predict that women will not
| cheerfully relfnquish their jobs when
| the war is over. But, after all, this is
| a question which, must be solved to
some extent by employers. From them
must come the ultimate decision.
| Hence, 1t is interesting to see what
| they already have to say about the
replacement of men by women.
| Most manufacturers admit that
| where women can do a mans work at
| all, they do it better, both as to quail
/ ity and quantity, but their range of
substitution is limited. Moreover, the
employment of women presents GER
| tain difficulties that often require
new apparatus and adjustment. AS
| one MANUFACTURER points out, "a wo-
| man is not as strongly built as a man;
| she is not SO tall; her reach is not so
| great; she cannot stand for so long;
| she is not physically adapted to lift
ing and carrying heavy weights, and
she requires many conveniences
| which men do not require
| In his shop, this manufacturer says,
| he has instituted carrying trays which
/ are SO constructed that no woman can
obtain a load over fifty pounds in
| weight, unless the size of an individual
| piece makes this limit impossible.
Stools and chairs are provided where
ever there is room, and short rest per-
iodS-one in the morning and one in
| the afternoon-have been established.
The employment of women also pre-
| sents certain psychological difficulties
that are not always encountered in the
| employment of men. In the first
i place. one employer asserts that eX-
| perience has taught him to be ex-
| tremely careful about the characters
| of the women he employs. for the
important reason that one undesirable
woman can completely demoranze
| whole department. Either her in
| flunce is bad, or the other women
will resent her presence and resigna-
lions without explanation will follow
in rapid order.
taken on in most factories she is put
thru a period of training before she
is permitted to enter a department and
engage in actual work. This training
i takes place in a room set aside for the
purpose where in class with sew
/ eral other recruits she is given as
much special instruction as possible.
By the end of few days the instruc-
tors are usually able to tell whether
she will make good or not
In this connection, one manufac-
! turer SAYS that women between the
ages of eighteen and thirty-one make
the best workers. Girls under eigh-
teen have not usually reached their
maximum of physical development,
and above the age of thirty-one have
become too set in their ways to learn
new processes quickly or to adapt
themselves to new condltlons. rms
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 be-