The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1918-03-27
BY HHETA c"DE 'poSA
TIE Evening Mall Wax Correspondent
Abroad.

BY AAh
To Evening Mall War Correspondent
Abroad
LOSTOS.-it was IN on" "f tho great
ird;s.ria! suburbs OF T.cnHnu. q place Of
NARROW vohe!ed streets t,;,i!ii"d on both
sid.S by tricd-aSh shops. public houses.
green grnrcrS and other HGrv"yors. Dou-
ni.-deck"I TRAM cars tangled roiSily
along the ways. and OVER all. streets.
:. shops. trans and h"rry;nG crowds o.
working people. a pail Il smoky '"S
which IN such rrieho"rhN''dS answers
<nr atmosphere
To tn. Left. behind hi.h walls guarded
At every gate by many policemen. lo"In't
one OF the largest Munitions works IN
Great Britain. As TAR Is the eye could
sce. huge buildings from which poured
tho roar OF machinery. the ctanE or
Steam hammers and the whtr and beat
OF whfelS: overhead. towering chitnneFs
Gclchins smoke and flame.
Streets Paved In Ashes.
The place was. in Sact. Z considerable
town devoted during - hours o. every
I. day 70 the production n highest pres
sure OF arms and ammunition ana WIT
materials Tor Rritain's army in the he'o.
The streets running through his tac-
TORY town were paved with coal aSnes.
The motor lorriss running up and down
wore dirty gray like the buildings. IL
was. on the whole about the most hope
less ugly and utilitarion spot my pill
SrimaSe through wartime England haa
provided.
Then suddenly | came on = smal oasis
III the Saraha Of uclineSs. II was a long.
4 low building surrounded with wooden
paltngS. My guide rang a bell. a cbor
opened and We stepped Into one or the
brightest and most charming day nur-
HnhtaC n1nX
and white babies. fat. contented and
gurclr. todd!ed and crawled over the
white floor. played with blocks at low
cables or slept peacefully in corners
Flowers In Wilderness.
There vas a covered veranda adjoin-
ing the main room. and beyond thar a
garden space where. the head nurse as
sured ne. they were able In summer TO
grow flowers. 1t seemed impossible,
but. even rs I paused to watch a group
81 older babies playing In a a n heap.
a briEht-syed song sparrow sailed ont
OF the dirCy hinterlan1 and lowered so
close 70 the sand heap that the children
=. stopped playing and tried to catch 1t
7 Babies. flowers, wood birds In the
mirst OF \ factory town devoted to en-
cines ard materials * dca,h seemed TO
N" So i~nc"ngruoTS that l begged Tor
explanations. tn" day nursery. II was
sklITl(lt'A 81" '"N '
benerolencH.
In many industrial neiShoorhoods
throughout tho United Kingdom the
chief reserve q: labor was found among
married women who young children.
Some Of -hsSc women were war widows:
some had husbands tnvalided home from
France; some had husbands in the
trenches. ard others still had husoandS
n tho factories.
Tho great loss Of mon and the dearth
ne workers among botl"d men made
the work Of the women necessary 70 tn"
state. The women refused 70 work IN
numbers unless their babies were cared
Tor. Hence ;he day nurseries And
growing out OF EnEland's great need or
more and moro man power. which means
woman power also. other welfare work
on r. scale undreamed OF IN pre-w3r days.
W. know something about welfare
work in III. United States. welfare work
In department. stores. individual fac
tories, or even in an Industry dcmina-
ting a town. Blu, welfare work rs q
government poltCv. instituted and large
" paid FOR by the state. ID something
We hav. NOT yct developed. But He may
have 20 develop it II this war lasts as
long rs predicted by some OF the cS-
perts
Trained 20 woSf.
have told Of the itanic task as
sumcd hy the British government In
creating n now working class 10! t"h
production OF munitions: how masses
~ labor were moved from one part or
The COUNT 20 another: how thousands
" unsk ;il.,; and sweatrl workers wHE"
trained T. $!i!!rd and scrni-skilled trades:
how thousands more were transferred
b from so-crtt".! wonen's trades 70 the
sacred engineering trades hitherto
noropoltzcd by an artstocracy OF men.
But all this moving and transferring
and changing ahsut involved difficulties
new and unforeSc'a.
Labor is not n mere commodity. It Is
a human pr~opoSitioa.anh when you move
q mass Of men and women from one
place t. another you have to provide
.h.n with food. shelter ard many ether
things besides.
The nearest approach | have seen {"
conditions which appeared in 1915 IN
birmingham. Coventry. Glasgow and 4
dozen industrial ceut:rS in Great BrI-
tain Is afforded y: Carl. IaG.. = town
which every ore knows ~ largely "wn-
ed and operated by tn" great steel cora
pani.s. Gary's population Increased
steadily. us the necessity Cor steel work
org crows. and il increases At times sud
Snn1y 70 meet .hc convenience o! the
m,lis.
-vh.. workers rush into Gary by thou
sands and. az rar as I can discover. no
body IN the mills asks or even wonders
where The u:w population sleeps.
hcoren t.. ". curious airnt, things l!k"
50 l did ask.
Gary Like London
Car is rull Of attractive cottages. set
n small riuts af green. and these the
steel c~nfnuan!ss have arranged 70 sell on
easy terms 20 tac h~irhrr-wave2 steel
IL.