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Show WOMEN WIRELESS EXPERTS By Trederic J. Haskin. WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 4. The sight of women tinkering with radio apparatus ap-paratus which was to carry messages of international importance would undoubtedly undoubt-edly have given the masculine element of the population a "turn" a decade ago. Even today the young women in the capacity ca-pacity mentioned are regarded dubiously dubious-ly by thoae who know nothing of wire-' lea?. Among radio experts they are rapidly rapid-ly gaining the reputation of being first-class first-class workmen Radio as a career for women is being developed by means of the "radio corps," of which Mrs. Herbert Sumner Owen la organizer and director. The origin of the corps dates a year before the United States entered the war. Mrs. Owen describes de-scribes herself as a pessimist who for pome time before the war had seen trouble trou-ble brewing and who believed even then that women would be needed in scientific work. A girl in whom Mrs. Owen was Interested bv becoming interested in wireless, provided the Impetus which started the corps. At first she studied bv herself, but when she could go no further alone and applied for admission to a olasa for advanced training she was told that radio classes were not open to women. Mrs. Owen investigated and argued, ahd finallv convinced Edward J. Naily, vice president of the Marconi company, that there was a demand for such instruction. It was he who made possible the opening of the first "wireless class for women," for he lpnt Mrs. Owen the necessary equipment costing about 53500. Classes in New York at Hunter college, the Marconi Mar-coni Radio institute and the Y. M. C. A. were finally opened to all women. The Marroni classes were not for women alone Mrs. Owen is against that but elapses for men and women, with the same opportunities oppor-tunities for boih. T';.'i g 1 r ; 3 learned t " . e c o ?. a r. d tech nique as quickly as the men. They then took the United States bureau of navigation naviga-tion test and received operators' licenses. Alter this they discovered that they were full-fledged workmen with nothing to do. These girls banded themselves into a corps, and Mrs. Owen came to Washington Washing-ton to tackle the war and navy departments. depart-ments. In New York, she said, were half a hundred girls, all skilled operators and many of them capable of teaching radio classes repairing apparatus, or engaging in radio research. The urgent need tor raido workers in the signal corps was well known. Could not the government make use of these applicants? At first the officers laughed. They had amusing visions of young ladles repairing wires under fire at the front. Besides, It was clearly written in the army law that men were to be enlisted, with no provision for accepting women, however clever. For , the time being they were rejected by the i signal corps, but some time later the corps reconsidered and sent for Mrs. Owen to come-to Washington to a conference. I The result of this was that the signal 1 corps accepted tiie services of the women as civilian workers under the signal corps. Since then the chief problems to be solved have been comparatively simple, such as locating a headquarters In crowded crowd-ed Washington, and getting permission for the girls to wear their uniforms. The uniform proposition aroused agitation because be-cause of the alleged likeness of the corps' working clothes to the United States army uniform. As a matter of fact, -the uniform uni-form is copied from that of the British army, with Sam Brown belt, British cap, leather puttees, skirts being substituted for troupers. As the materials used ore English and the officers' insignia itt adapted from the' Rumanian army insignia with consent of the representative of the Rumanian government . in this country, the charge of copying 4he American uniform uni-form is unfounded. The corps members held out for Ithakl uniforms because they could not do their work properly nor command the same respect re-spect in civilian dress. They argued that the effect of a uniform on the people with whom she comes in contact Is almost as important as the effect on the wearer a fact which Is becoming a standard argument argu-ment in favor of uniforms for workers. The army has been wary of accepting the services of girls in uniform lest the rumor be started that it was enlisting women. This fear was somewhat Increased in the case of the radio corps girls, in that their distinctly military bearing rendered them easily mistaken for a part of the army. That girls must be 100 per cent more efficient than the men they replace to gain recognition as radio experts was the opinion of one officer who agreed to try out the girls. This difficult standard is being attained by the corps because every ev-ery member Is intensely Interested in her work. Otherwise their enthusiasm would have lone ago been dampened by the obstacles ob-stacles placed in their way. Some have been teachers of science in high schools and colleges, others have studied wireless with their brothers, and still others had onlv the latent ability when the chance came: but in ail the deelre to make good is strong. Their present status Is that of members mem-bers of a private organization from which they may be appointed by the civil service ser-vice and detailed to duty yherever needed. Mostly, the girls are needed by the signal sig-nal corps, though one was used by the navy in an enlisted capacity, and row some are being called to posts in the west. The wireless code is the leapt part of a girl's training fo the work now being i done by tine corps. None of the members , are employed as operators. One of the questions often asked by applicants for admission to the corps is whether she , will be placed as a radio operator on a ! battleship. This is a hopeless aspiration, j There are as yet no accommodations for women radio operators on board any ship. In most cases the chief operator and his assistant have only one room between them. In one instance a woman has served on shipboard, but she worked with her husband, who was the other ship operator. The coming of peace has affected the plans of the corp3 only as an indication of increased work ahead. The corps did not organize as a war project, and it considers con-siders its career just begun. Wireless, its "chief" believes, is the moat important of the many new careers opening to v. omen. |