The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-22

past ten days. Undoubtedly the time has arrived when women are making themselves felt, and the great disorgani-
 zation of all bus, trolley and subway lines because of the stoppage of women workers, has been one of those things J that makes the mere man feel rather suspicious of his after the war posi- | ton, while obviously the great majority
 of women are feeling decidedly perky
 and sure of themselves.
 l Personally, the strike of bus and train and car women gave me a considerable { amount of inconvenience which had
 cause to feel with peculiar poignancy l last Sunday l was one of a party who
 went to spend the day at one of the famous military camps near Aldershot, the great depot through which an enor- nous number of troops pass on their way to France. Taxis now-a-days in London are rare and privileged means I or conveyance, but they are as elusive i to keep as they are difficult to find The camp for which we were bound is about thirty miles from London-a simple enough distance in pre-war time but a prodigious journey now-a- days when automobiles are forbidden (eXcept in cases of military or govern mental importance) At any rate you have first to arrive at your point of departure, which takes some doing in the early hours of Sunday morning when there is strike in progress on tube trains and omnibuses, However, that rare jewel, a wandering taxicab, was discovered and we arrived at Waterloo station exactly 45 minutes before the advertised hour of our trains departure O,,n T +1,;,, H. +ha I so wide a margin in the way of time there would be nothing for it except 1 to wait for that Hast minute before i leaving the station. Instead, we dis covered the carriages practically full ana hundreds of people struggling and scrambling to get into the few places | left vacant Bribery with an English I train conductor goes a long way even ! in war time however, and diplomatic ally placed half crown procured an 'open sesame" to a carriage that must have been Preserved specially for the purpose of providing extra additions to i the guards weekly wage. At any rate we "got there and even secured seat I apiece for each member of our party no small triumph, can assure you.
 | We found the charming Hampshire camp with its big population of troops set very near to the line of an equally | large encampment for American sol
 diers, who are doing their final training | in England before proceeding lover I there, and evidently the British Tom
 mics and the American Dough Boys" 1 have established quite friendly relation ships and are pals as we'll as allies
 The hospitality of a mass of young officers stationed at a country camp cannot be exceeded in England, and all though it is. necessary that women vis- Iitors should have the extreme excuse lot hafn a a l. lowed to enter into the sacred precincts of the hutments, there is sufficient di- version everywhere in the way of com panonship quite to remove any sort or domestic atmosphere The pride that these boys take in the
 arrangement of their huts and the eagerness with which they sbring out their treasured souvenirs of the battle front or some thrilling experience at home or abroad, is most interesting and amazing. The hutments in an English camp make the expanse of one of these big military settlements look like a small town, and the beauty iof the Hampshire countryside with its rolling grass lands and it's groves of pine trees gives beautiful setting to the ordered precision of the soldiery quarters. During the afternoon a concert party arrived in the camp and
 gave most amusing entertainment which great many of the American soldiers from across the way attended, and they seemed particularly to ap- preciate the efforts of MT. Thornley Dodge to amuse them. He is a great
 favorite with English and American boys alike and only physical fatigue gave the poor man any chance of re- fusing to go on @with his apparently limitless entertainment.
 It was interesting to see among this
 
 that have been allotted to the women's army or as they are popularly known throughout England-the "Waccs,"
 CWomen's Auxiliary Army Corps). There are something over a hundred of these girls attached to the camp of
 which I am speaking and they seem to do very useful work in various capaci- ties. One particularly handsome young woman is the officers mess sergeant, while others among their number have duties in the commanding officers com pany rooms, in the stables and in the cook-house. I asked one of the young
 lieutenants how he liked having com-
 mand of ''Waccs,' and his reply was That they worked very we'll but he felt rather fed up" sometimes, when one of the new ones burst into tears when reprimanded for some more or less important fault. What on earth he said, lis chap to do if after having told a girl orderly that she has made a mess of his company papers, she be- gins to cry?" I can quite understand
 the situation must be a most awk- ward one. The remedy can only lie in the hands of the young woman herself and she certainly ought to know bet ter For some reason or other feel rath-
 CT military this week. Everything I have to say apparently circles round regimental subjects. which reminds me
 that the Royal air force girls are quite conspicuous in London now in their new light blue uniform Their clothes are exactly similar in material and de- sign to those worn by R. A. F. officers,
 only of course, they wear ankle e-deep skirts over black leggings. Their tunics are precisely similar to those worn by
 the men, and so also are their caps
 which are very neat and becoming A member of the R. A. F. who is about to be married to a distinguished Canadian officer is Mrs. Crossley. very pretty Irish woman, and one of the very few
 entitled to wear the Mons ribbon. She
 was driving an ambulance in France
 through all the early days of the war
 as she wished to be with her husbatd
 who was in command of an Irish regi- ment. Late in 1915 she returned to England and went to live in the coun- try. One afternoon as she was coming,
 downstairs the servant brought her a telegram. It was from the wal of- 1 flee and it told her that her husband 1 had been killed in action. She fainted | and fell headlong down the long flight | of stairs and few days later her baby | was born dead 4