Mexico Missouri message., 1918-06-27
Female Helpers Find Many Ways
to Aid Government.
MUST ECoNOMIzE IN SKILL
Splendid Opportunities Await Those
Who Are Anxious TO Assist--
Should He Able TO Do Some
thing Specific.
BY MARY AUSTIN,
lP'rom the Committee on Public Informa


lat home, who is neither the mistress
iof the house nor a wage earner7 How
Shall she turn back to the general ac-
count the care and schooling she has
had, and how satisfy the hungry desire
ito serve her country, which is. thank
God, as characteristic Of our young
women as our young men7 Every hour
since the war my telephone has been
ringing with questions like these.
Young men are captained and gen.
seraled. Expert supervision of their
patriotic service Is at their elbows.
They have the splendid inspiration Of
togetherness, music, banners, shoulder
touching shoulder. Even wage-worlc-
ing women have a sense of direction;
they see the work that passes through
lthelr hands pushed steadily to an end.
but the young woman of brains and
ieducation and leisure must captain
herself. She must find her own Job
herself.
1t Is all very well for mother to knit
and roll bandages in her spare time,
which by that process becomes time
saved. And though it is no doubt high
1y patriotic to save food at the expense
of time spending, after all, household
economics can only be practiced by
those having houses. Red Cross nurs-
Eng Is a privilege Of the ft; and re-
Nuires long training which few can
either physically or financially afford.
u these special duties leave a wide
I'm Of capable women who ache to
Ia
scoance and England the lone
soupd no problem, unless 1t were
r,o lty of deciding which Of the
IS to be done were to be
uoNerSut In America labor lead
directeoled against clogging the
ion, to Industries with crowds
the full forc~ who know none of
sources to thee wage earners.
The War Indusers'~ opportunity
.rtrv into the cal on our part
~ Ire chance to carry,
edlSe, the national burden. But
nat 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
formless 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,
fallen a little into the weakness of
democracles, 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 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
Acan 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
riaIs. We have come to think that we
can do very little of anything without
the most expensive teachers and peda-
g0gic equipment.
But it IS not only In food that we
must economize now; we must econo-
mlze in skill. In every community of
1900, or even less, there is enough neg
aected 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
he is too old or physically unfit for
field service. He would be happy to
pass on his thirty-Eve years of expert
mess to you. to be used as the govern
,ment Is going to have to use women
accountants.
In 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. II there is a Carnegie
library in your town, there is some
body there who can teach you card
cntaloguing 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 tC
make clean carbons. A textbook comes
with every machine, and If you cannot
iaffOrd a machine, borrow one, or clut
jtogether with two others and rent one
flor So.
Many Other Opportunities.
Indexing and filing are both In de
lmand In all departmental work; though
Ilt will not be so easy to find oppor
Ennity for learning them in towns un
der 10000. But telegraphy can bt
learned even in the rural districts. A
few hours from an Obliging local Op
crator a good text book. and a small
Morse outfit which can be set up be