Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1919-01-17
Industrial Woman's Service Club
Brings Home to Girls in New
Factory Community.
BLUE TRIANGLE MEANS CHEER
Club Stands for Hot Lunches, Clean
Towels, Comfortable Cots, Parties,
Games and Recreation to
Girl Workers.
Katherine Holland Brown.

I'M han. am eighteen years
old, and 1 work in big fac
tory in Michigan. More than four
hundred other girls work there too,
don't aim to tell you about our jobs.
You can read about our work in the
labor department reports. But l do
aim to tell you about our Big Sister
and of the things she has done for us.
ITO begin with, our factory town
isn't town at all. It's huge barn
of buildings stuck down in the country
nineteen miles from nowhere. There
Is railroad siding, station the size
of dry goods box, seven farmhouses
and one general store and postoffice
combined-it's pretty near as big as
hot tamale stand. And that's all. No
Main street, no banks nor stores, no
ice-cream parlors, not one solitary
movie show, In all those nineteen
miles. Lonesome? It's the ragged
edge of desolation, that's what 1t is.
'T was one of the first carload of
forty girls that was shipped up from
Chicago. The factory was swarming
with workmen putting in the machin-
cry, and we girls couldn't begin work
for day or so, so we began hunting
places to eat and sleep. That was IA
trifie that the employment folks hadn't
thought Of The workmen were sleep
ing and eating in the cars that had
| brought them there, backed on the
siding. Our only chance for beds and
| food was with those seven farmhouses,
| so we marched straight to the farmers
wives and asked for board and room,
Farmers Wives Hospitable.
Twill say that thosewomen were kind
and hospitable. They fixed 1t up be-
tween them to feed us forty girls, and
they gave us good food too. But for
rooms, that was the question. They
could each spare one room. That
meant sleep Ave or six In room. But
right then along came the boss OF the
factory and told us the machinery was
ready and he'd expect us girls to work
double shifts. night and day.
"He wanted to make use Of every
minute, you see. But that gave US our
chance as to sleeping. We fixed 1t up
with the farm folks that we'd work
double shifts and sleep double shifts
too.
$50 we planned 1t. Three girls
would use room from eight at night
till six the next morning. Then they'd
hustle over to the factory, and the
three girls who'd been working all
night would take the room and SLEEP
till afternoon. II wasn't any luxuri
Gus slumber. believe me. The farm
women had so few sheets and pillow
cases that most of us went without
And towels were scarce as diamonds
on blackberry bushes. AS to soap
well, the general store kept yellow bal
soap, that kind that is so full OF rosiT
you could use 1t to calk ship. Blu
we made out till the next three car
loads of girls came rolling In. Ther
we went most distracted. Those poo
girls had to sleep in tents and in th'
cars that the workmen had abandoned
by this time, and they were lucky 4
they got straw tick and blanket
BY this time It had turned raw cold
and maybe you know what late au
tumn nights in Michigan feel like. II
cap the climax the farm folks GU
! down on food. and for week II wa
potatoes and beans and mighty few