The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-10-03
THE PEOPLES FORUM.
The Blue Triangle.

AS DASS AAAo16sSs
Just now the work of the society
whose emblem is the Red Triangle is
prominently before the country and the
world for that matter. 1t is the Young
Woman's Christian Association.
The association is in France and other
war ridden countries, as we'll as in the
United States.
The Hostess House follows the flag
and provides bit of home life for our
boys, whether training in the camps at
home or fighting on the fields of France.
The Y. w. c. A. stands for the good
he left behind him. mother, wife, sister
or sweetheart, who may also be the
girl who took his place among the l.
500, 900 women engaged in speeding up
war industries to-day.
Their work is along recreational, in
dustrial and social lines. 1t has 81
Hostess Houses in the Army, Navy and
Aviation camps, Is of them are for
colored troops. 1t is bit of home in
the camps, where the boys can receive
and entertain their friends. Ninety
three Girls Clubs and Recreation CEN
tiers make men in uniform welcome to
home-like events. Special aid to for
eign born in their home tongues helps
cheerful service beneath the flag.
These houses are building for girls of
the U. S. signal corps who tend the
wires for the army in France. War
service centers keep girls fit to do their
bit on war orders for our armies over
seas. For every man in khaki there
will be girl in war industries.
The war means more to our girls than
we are apt to realize. 1t involves sew
eral problems. There is the social
problem, which means leaving the old
home and launching out for themselves
under new conditions, which often in
clude loneliness, inconsistencies and dan
gerous fatigue. They are often crowd
ed into boarding houses where the &C.
commodations are not the best. Nor
even sugg estive of home. Frequently
they lack suitable recreation and so the
body has to pay the penalty and pres
emily there are indications of relaxing
Watchfulness and care as evidenced in
inferior work. Thel too it may mean
to them a sudden and new responsibility
for the support of the family. The
changing industrial conditions may
mean to them unemployment They may
find they are out of job. or they may
meet with unaccustomed tasks. their
hours may not be regulated, the con-
ditions under which they are required
to labor, may not be and indeed often
times they are not the best or most
healthy. In fact they may be very un-
healthy. They may be crowded or I'M
der the lash all the time speeding up
the rush work, or again they may be
required to work overtime under the
guise of patriotism. Such conditions
frequently result in unsettling their
standards of living. The high ideals
they have may be blurred. Personal
restraint may be let down, social re-
lations may become looser, all of which
tends to reduce efficiency in labor. The
war has opened to women great va
riety of employment, that had pre-
viously been regarded as mems work.
There are nearly ten million women at
work today in the U. S. and of these
one and half million are engaged on
war orders. These supplies are for
the direct support of their sons and
brothers who are fig hting at the front.
In other industries Immediately affect
ed by the war, one million more women
are facing the necessity of speeding
up" These women form what Is call
ed ''our second line of defense"
1t is expected two million or more
men will be in France by the close of
the year. Who is to take their place?
The Y. w. c. A. establishes club and
recreational work for girls and includ-
ing patriotic league, which now has
400, 900 members. 1t furnishes housing
for unemployed girls and women. 1t
already has five centers. Sixty one
hostess houses are now in use, with
twenty-five others authorized. 1t has a
bureau for foreign born women, trans
lating needed bulletins into eighteen
languages; it maintains interpreters in
camps and training Polish women for
reconstruction work In Poland and a