Evening star., 1944-11-30

coat "from'' Lowell Mellett.
$4,000. These prices are subject
to 20 per cent Federal excise tax
which would make the jackets
from" $1,000 and the coats from
$4,000.
Of course those are only the from
prices and probably apply only tc
ratty little numbers you wouldn't
want to be seen in, just good enough
to keep you warm while raking the
leaves in your back yard, assuming
you are one of those having diff.
Guilty in getting help, the servan,
problem being what it is.
Another little item of interest to
women: Maj. Gen. Philip B. Flem-
ing, just back from Russia, tells me
that Russian women are no better
carpenters than American women
They are inclined to hit their
thumbs with the hammer, he says
they don't find the saw natural
tool and are apt to put things
together rather skewgee. Apparently
the same thing in a womans physi-
cal makeup that keeps most Of them
out of organized baseball is going
to keep them out of the carpenters
union.
Good At Other Trades.
But, according to the general, the
Russian women are excellent plumb
ers, brick and stone masons and
electricians. Any one who ever
watched an American woman tune
up her vacuum cleaner or electric
iron can believe that her Russian
sisters may likewise be proficient In
that direction.
Gen. Fleming visited number OF
the cities and towns reduced to rub
BILE by the German invaders. He
found the heavy work Of temporary
reconstruction being done almost
entirely by women. The Soviet gov
eminent is making precise and elab-
crate plans for rebuilding the cities
along advanced modern lines when
the war is over, but meantime rough
and-ready reconstruction to meet
some part of the immediate neces-
sity is under way, and the women
are doing the work.
Come to think Of it, Russian
women probably trapped those bar
gain-price sables mentioned above
most of their menfolkS being en-
gagged at the moment in trapping
Germans. It's reasonable guess
that it is the Russian women, not
the men, who are freezing their
noses, their fingers and their toes,
watching the traps in the cold for
ests of Barguzin, Yakutsky and
Kamchatka
One more item: The United States
Army is still carrying on its cam
paign to enlist women in the WAC.
1t has become a campaign of desper-
alton. The original goal of $50, 900
has not been increased, but despite
all the money and all the effort
spent, the Army is still more than
$4,000 short of it's needs. The Navy,
thanks perhaps to a more intriguing
uniform, has done a little better
With a goal set at $4,000, it has
obtained 10000 WAVES.
The great grief OF the armed serv-
ices, however, has to do with nurses
Does Good Job.
The Red Cross has succeeded in
providing the Army with more than
1900 nurses and the Navy with
more than 5000. But the Army has
urgent need for at least 10000 more
and the Navy for 1000
The War Manpower Commission
has declared some $4,000 trained
nurses now working in civilian hos
pitals or on private cases eligible
for transfer to the armed services
Eighteen thousand student nurses
to be graduated this winter, also
have been declared available-if, In
each category, the women can be
persuaded to enlist. However, the
situation in the civilian hospitals of
the country also is bad. All the hos
pitals need nurses and are alarmed
at the prospect of releasing any
more to the Army and the Navy.
So the Red Cross Is begging the
women Of America to take training