Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-07-04
Detroit GIRLS
IN WAR LEGION
Battalion, 600 Strong, Leaves
Office and Clerical Work
to Make Liberty
Motors.

Unlike the women of Russia, who
chose the Legion OF Death, Detroit has
an army OF American girls who have
joined the Legion of Liberty. They
are building the Liberty motor, u
Goediy portion OF 1t at least They arc
fighting the war for democracy here
in Detroit.
This is the story of a battalion Of
GOO of these American artisan anna
IONS at the plant of the Lincoln Mo-
tors company. Can you imagine IA girl
whose greatest bid to fame heretofore
has been a dictation record of 1875
letters in seven hours, guiding q
grinder which works inside & cylinder
whose snloolhness some day may result
in the infin;tesimal bit of extra power
that speeds a flying cap.ain to an ad-
vantage over a Hun ace? y
The cylinder, Il round tube. CT metal.
is ciamped 10 a big machine, and AS the
power is applied n large emery wheel.
like the brush the dentist uses. is
speeded to a high velocity and rubbed
against the inside of the cylinder UNI
til every has disappeared.
This cylinder operation must be eX-
act. 1t must be exact to one-thou-
sand,h of al inch, half the diameter of
a hair from YOU head. One young
woman engaged in this bit of war
work is Opal Mendenhall. Opal used
to be a clerk in a candy store.
Finger Nails for Freedom.
will you come back when you ge.
tired of tina: factory work?" the candy
store man asked her the other day.
Opal smiled and the man thought It
meant yes. .
Not Il chance said Opal to IN vls-
itor. I've ground OFF Il couple OF sets
OF perfectly good finger nails. but I'll
throw them in as my extra war con-
tribuiion."
With al! respect to Opal's wonderful
spirit. it must be added that she is
earning $3.50 every day of nine hours.
There are 40 more women like Opal
on the same type of machine.
There Is a military exactness and
martial color TO the appearance Of h
wome at the Lincoln Motors plant.
These girls reveal no %potpourri of silks
i'm noisy waists. no sagsing skirts. no
turnover heels, OF pinfrizzles and h
general air OF "a misguided rainbow that
Is visualized in so many shops where
feminine help pr~edominates.
press is Military.
Trim md jauniy and sensibly combed.
each woman stands ut her task in bust
ness like khaki, the simple lines of the
dress giving n psychological impress of
h military precision and discipline OF
their work.
And do you think that the work OF
these women'S hands Is of the dainty
kind that INDUCES in typography, ham
mered Silve: and brass and other lady
like crafts? II so. you rave but to
glance nj the suffering snarl of flame
thai leaps like the tongue of the tabled
dragon from the oxy-acetylene welding
tool and sends it's sparks in pyrotechnic
display about the heads of the workers,
to know thai it takes nerve and muscle
and skill and patience in a ratio of Il
mars understanding OF such things to
..hold the job
of this is Esther Burger, who rose from
"A sales position in the art and needle
wori; department of Il downtown de-
partluent store to be assistant to tho
foreman IN he women's department
at the Lincoln Motors plant.
Never Had a Doll.
Esther Burger knows the name and
use of every tool the women have re-
course to i'm the factory. They will
never send Esther for Il lefthand mon
key wrench and She could send as out
of every 100 men on Woodward avenue
for tools they wouldn't know in y tool
catalog.
Two months ago she started work on
d reamer. Today she can direct any
one of the factory operations. They
use 300 different grades of emery at
the Lincoln. Esther Burger knows
them all and could pick them out III
the dark as o NJ picks grades OF
dress goods.
Blu what could one expect when
Esther tells you that she never had II
doll. Instead Of that she played with
her fathers tools. wrencllcs. drills and
saws.
The mastering OF this army has taken
place at the Lincoln since January l..
In other Detroit plants are other bait
'aiions of the Legion oe Liberty. They
are growing in strength and in Skill
each day.