Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-28

MISS HaISeN, VINO Is n gIauuale VI
Swarthmore, Is the daughter of Fred
erick w. Halsey. 1918 Kinssessing ave.
nue.. and for two weeks now has been
toilihg at the Midvale Steel and ord
nance Company's Eddystone rife plant,
Part OF the time, Miss Halsey worked
on the machines. and found the work
interesting. Now she is In the employ
ment bureau, and is doing welfare duty
among the thousand girls at the plant.
'They are fine girls" she said to-
day. They are loyal and good work
ers. But perhaps all of them don't
realize their responsibilities. And that
is what I wish them to do.
II want them TO understand that they
are Just as essential as the men in
the trenches. And II they &c about
their work in the proper spirit, 1t will
develop them just as army life develops
soldiers and brings out the best that
is In them"
Some of the girls have been a bit
unsettled by the high wages paid them
Miss Halsey says. Five dollars a day
has been more than some of them know
how to spend wisely.
and what ! want TO do Is to work
with these girls, curb any foolish in
diligence of tastes made extravagant by
high wages. and develop the fine spirit
which already exists" said Miss Halsey.
The welfare worker. who is thirty
years old. went on 10 describe her
own experience as an actual "munition-
%erette." She said:
Being n munition worker Is very
different from what l imagined. very
much better in fact. My misgivings.
which arose from prejudice. snobbish-
ness and n total ignorance of all fac
tory work, were overcome only by my
strong love Cf adventure and my great
desire to get as close to the firing line
as the Government would allow.
THAT desire to get to the firing line
began to be fulfilled the moment I set
foot in the train my first morning as
a munitioners<e. In that regiment OF
workers on the station platform, there
was one membe Ct my company at the
farthest end of the platform was one
lone woman The toes of my shoes
surely must have skinned the heels OF
her shoes, as ] followed her into the
train and through four Or Ave coaches
filled with men; men standing, sitting,
squatting on the floor, crouching in cor
ners, leaning against companions. bend
ing over seat backs, or spraying out on
4 the floors OF baggage coaches-in every
posture the human anatomy can assume.
These who were nots sleeping, were
smoking. Right through the rank and
= file, shrouEh fire and smoke. that girl
led me straight into-No Mans Land.
Al the rear Of the train was a coach
exclusively for women employed in mu-
nitiCn plants"
Continuing Miss Halsey said:
When ! reached the rife plant | was
aiken WITH me others to one of the
buildings. We did not need a band to
complete the parade, because the myriad
Of wheels overhead. set up a noise that
: had the oceans roar outclassed at u
= rotio of ten to one. never heard
such a din in my life. and | began 10
wonde" how my tympanic membrane
would hold cut. The ocean-like roar was
worse ON the second ioor, where. as II
to follow ont tho seashors impression, a
caged-in room, such as you see in sea-
side lighthouses, WAS located. Here each
girl was given a uniform Of khaki. con-
sisting of 4 bloomer costume M a cap.
With these costumes in our arms we
were marched to the third floor where
the ocean still roared. but no bath
houses We're in evidence. In fact, one
might have supposed that we were in a
dairy or a laundry, for there was an
appearance Ct cream separators all
around. aud a strong smell Cf Monday
morning in the air. But il was neither
separator nor Monday-just soda water
running through the machines 10 cool
the castings and wash away the filings.
The extent to which Miss H~alsey's pa
trlotism would lead her may be Judged
from the following:
|, would willingly Xiii Hun
AN acquaintance of mine who had
pacifist tendencies, once asked me in a
Mortified tone, Would YOU willingly be
the means of killing a man" Miss Hal
sey said. My reply was, No. l hope
heaven Ia guard me from killing n
man, but ! certainly pray HEAVIER will
give me strength 10 kill a Hun a Hun
is not a man. And so | nm a Hun killer,
and intend to be a Hun killer all my life,
without any fear If breaking one OF the
Commandments.
Il must tell YOU of the lunchroom be-
fore | tell YOU of the work done by the
women" Miss Hulsey said with erthus,-
asm. The lunchroonN Is in keeping with
; the dressing room, large and clean. 1t
II more immense than large, more like
two large rooms thrown together, with
a smaller room to one side for the col
pred employees. At the entrance you
get "A tray from a great pile then you
pass into the counters (Which are ar
, ranged in a hollow square) and between
them and a railing down a narrow pas
sage n through to the sections where
the tables are arranged, You grab what
YOU want from the counters as you pass
, show your trayful of grabbed grub" tc
! the cashier at the entrance to the tablt
j section, receive a check for the amount
YOU owe and pass In,
/ The method of m is that Of
"A church fair YOU get in free, but pay
TO get out. because when YOU finish YOU
must pass by another cashier to whom
you give your check and money. II gen
orally costs me something to get out, be
cause I find everything so good that
grab much more than ! intend. The pric,
OF the food is by no means high in fact
il Is unusually reasonable in COMPARE
son with the price paid for the same
thing in other places, The food is ex'
cellent, well seasoned and in variety anc
abundance.
MY first task was to file off the rough
end from a small stick Of steel. NJ.
hands were soft and soon sore, but tn,
: noise Of the file over the steel edge re-
; minded me so much of a hunting dog II
; hot pursuit that my sore hands were for,
d gotten in the idea that | had joined III,
pack OF American Devil Dogs on thu
$ trail OF the Potsdammers After testing
E my ability for a week at the fling desks
2 and finding that 1t showed strong Sign
. OF inability because OF undeveloped mus
= cles, l asked for a machine. The ma
, chine seems easier sor me. but a fail
: test Is the only means Of finding out. Il
= not this machine a lighter one win b,
/ given me. Every worker Is given a jus
opportunity TO find the work which 4
most suitable In the respective depart
ment TO which she has been assigned
Unfortunately. many quit the job be