The herald., 1918-02-28
French WOMEN
IN 1000 TASKS
Girls Help in Mending of 10000
Pairs of Soldiers Boots
a Week.
DO ALL KINDS OF LABOR
Old and Young Rendering Good Serv.
ice in the War Unsatisfactory
80 Per Cent of Waste Is
Ever Salvaeed.


Paris.-French women, old and
young, are nObly performing their
tasks in war industries, thousands
working in all kinds of industries
within the sound of German guns.
They are praised for their intelli-
gence and industry, from the little
girl from the lycee to the old woman
who has come back to work because
she wants to see the Boche punished
for what he did to France in 1870.
The French workers formerly had
been laCemakers, and q few of them
fisher girls. OF the former there were
a few who were the children or grand
children of English people from the
great English lace centers at Noting
ham, who had settled in France many
years before and been absorbed into
the life of the French people.
In the salvage centers at an ord
nance base l saw them working in the
biggest boot repair shop in the world,
where 10000 pairs of boots are re-
paired a week; and here l saw old up
pers cut into disks, which in their turn
were made into boot laces. These sal
vaged boots, swept up from the debris
ut the front, emerge finally in three
classes: 1, those that can be used again
by men at the front, and are often
preferred to new, as they are softer in
60 h.n linnS ~
communication; and, 2, for prisoners
and colOred laborers,
Only 80 Per Cent SaIvaged.
While 1 was going round these re-
pairing shops l noticed an American
officer being taken round also, and
heard his cicerOne giving him infor-
nation on the Importance of salvage
all of which he was carefully noting.
There were FrenchwOmen cleaning
old web and leather equipment by re-
volving brushes; French girls sorting
salvaged ammunition, the "empties"
being sold to the French government;
there were girls washing discarded
haversacks, cleaning rifles, picking
through masses Of horseshOes to see
il there was any wear left in them |;
there were girls sorting out old he'll
NETS and picking the few good ones
to be washed, sandpapered and "camou.
tagged" All of these things had been
swept up from the debris of the re.
cent fighting. Yet only 80 per cent of
waste is ever salvaged from the fight.
ing lines.
They were repairing and riveting
spurs; they were making wooden
sticks for Watson's signaling fans;
they were sharpening blades Of horse.
clippers; they were repairing wheels
and cleaning the bolts and hubs of
the wheels, and doing thousand other
curious routine things. Most of them
sang at their work ribald little French
songs, which occasionally changed to
the defiant "Marseillaise" when they
saw a stranger near them. Industry
means happiness in France, where all
who eat must work, even the dogs.
In the textile factory there were
girls handling over five tons a day of
old tents; others were repairing them
upstairs at the rate of hundreds a
week. They cut out disks for signal.
ing, and the tabs for soldiers great
coats; they were making up the par
GELS that go in Tommy's greatcoat
pocket, buttons, thread, etc, each one
at a great table having her share in
the process.
Help In Clerical Work.
There are French girls also helping
in the clerical section Of ordnance,
working side by side with w. A. A.
C.'s, filing papers, though they know
no English, by numbers, and becoming
very skilled and quick at monotonous
job.
The pay is that prevailing in the
town in which they work and arranged
with the French authorities. One of
the great advantages of employing
French women is, in addition to their
quickness and skill, the fact that they
live close at hand, thus saving the need
for importing English people for un-
skilled work.
The French woman's labor has one
characteristic that is recognized by
the military employer. 1t is a little
erratic. Six francs day is the usual
pay, and if woman does not choose
to work consecutive number of days
she stays away, and no one says any
thing. They are also a mobile labor,
and If a group decide to move else
where owing to air raids and other
causes, they depart with all their
goods and chattels. Always they please
themselves in purely personal matters
while remaining on the best of terms
with their employers. OF their strict
honesty heard constant praise.