New-York tribune., 1918-07-19
Locomotives and
Gingham
By Emma Bugbce
7 oU go down to Washington thro,.,
fields drifted white with daisi..
al .ha LII 70 IL. =. -,

fields drifted white with dat
and the lush valleys of Marvls,,
brilliant with lupine and wild rose. ,.
seems so happy and peaceful world r..
you forget for few moments the ~;
formed men on the train and the seyv,o,
stars that CLINT in the farmhouse window,
as you fly past, seeing only tae sbjnin,
fields and cool green woods Perha,. :.
is because they are so still and sweet and
helpless lying there, mile after mile p,
protected, unconscious Of the tragedy tb.,
has befallen the poppy fields of France and
the orchards of Picardy that We feel -
hot to defend it.
Those older lands are, perhsps no..
beautiful to the artists eyes-their forss,.
pruned, their ugly swamps drained. .b.;,
fields proudly cultivated but they have an
been scorched before by the breath Of vsr
ever since the Persians first burned -.
olive groves of Greece, and the oriy,s,
Huns ravaged the vineyards Of Franz.
Perhaps it is because it is the first Tim.
for US that we feel this passion of indjgna-
ton at the thought Of our fields ravaged
our brooks dehled.
In such mood you are doubly touched h,
the sudden appearance Of daisy fields whic,
have already sacrificed their sweetnes, -,
the raw uglness of munitions plants. eve,
as you find your eyes suddenly full Of tear,
at the sight of some young, glad bov
proudly offering up his life for his covn.
try. You fash upon them and past in a
second. Fresh summer woods carp.ssd
with green vines and wild strawberris.
are being ploughed up and covered with
fiat brick buildings, which from their yerv
isolation and the energy which radis.s.
from their cleaning FORCES you know for
war plants. Along the misty shores NJ
Chesapeake Bay, too, you see the water.
front giving up its beauty, unsefshly. in
the same great cause.
There is still another evidence ~ ~,
war in the journey to Washington. You
come upon her, too, unexpectedly standing
guard over a wandering little backwood,
crossroad The first | saw was q colored
woman in yellow and white striped dress
her arms akimbo, watching, perhaps, for
familiar grinning face 80 show at the win.
dow Of the dining car. Next was stout.
calico-clad white woman, sunbonnet on her
head, and tugging at her skirt boy of
three or four years. Easy enough to pict-
ure the poverty of the little home hidden
back there among the scrub pines, from
which the mother came forth each dav to
earn few cents at the railroad crossinv
There were others-young girls in city
silk waists--one even looked like Georgette
as We flashed past-and another had
rake IN hand as she turned from the tiny
garden beside the track. Another had
yes, you've guessed it-a knitting bag
What salary those lonely jobs in the re-
mote country roads command from III.
railroad do not know, but nv mind NJ,
much comforted as to the woman watcher,
status before the paymaster when I learned
that Secretary McAdoo has ordered the
principle of equal pay to apply to all
women in railroad positions.
in the engine yards at Baltimore we dis
covered girls doing the more picturesous
work of washing an engine as it Law pant.
ing under its shed They wore long mink
glngham aprons, and were the lodeston,
which drew every passenger in the car 70
the nearest windows, quite to the disgust
of the sandwich boy, 20 whom women in
engine cabs we're evidently no more nov.
city than women in Pullman coaches.
Il guess III get a railroad Job gigged
the pretty girl behind ne.
Il shouldn't want TO wash Ancinees sa
her chum. ''Id rather be sandwich
boy"
Trust Flo to get in on the eats some
how and the happy. IRRESPONSIBLE young
things went Off in gales OF laughter, thst
Immediately forgot the war and all its
woman problems
he sweet girl graduate was right. how
ever Why should young women-no mat
ter how husky-be allowed to do such re-
voting drudgery as washing engine win
do"s when boys are carrying trays OF
sandwiches through parlor cars? There
mas been great deal of nonsense about
women IN industry. in which. fortunately
we are beginning 10 see the turn OF the
tide. Women track walkers, women bag
gage checkers, women streatcar conductors
and women dock hands are shame to any
town which permits young men to stand in
soda fountains and hotel checbrooms, or
perform such laborious tasks as frying
napJacks and tapping typewriters
Even in the Union Station in Washing
ton the anomaly persists. They have men
seiilhg picture postcards and newspapers
ana girls handling baggage in the parcel
ehec"ing room. One of them smiled at
me- olithe, humorous smile, which seemed
to say:
ell. here am. saving my county
us all right except when The officers bw-
gage is too heavy"
kk2 L NII..I HI.n