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Show J Women Performing Hard Tasks of 'Men .in Big Chemical Plants j FOR as long as the oldest employe of the General Chemical Company can remember re-member woman's plnco has been in .lie office To-day she is working side by side with the men at tho Hudson Hivor works of the company at Edgcwatcr, Js". o., uoi uucimsc mero is a scarcity oi inoor at this plant, hut because the General Chemical Company is for proparcdncss. Patriotic women have been invited to enter the works and fill whatever positions posi-tions for whfeh they are adapted. ' Forty-eight Forty-eight of them have thus far donned the bloomers. The company hopes to recruit at least two hundred more. Officials of the company have made it plain to their men employes that tho newcomers new-comers are not to supplant them. The women are to begin in the yard, which is to be a sort of clearing bouse for the ap-, plicanls. The yard also may be described; as tho elementary grade of the school of j preparedness. The other day, when the writer visited the place, it resembled ai kindergarten. The young women and I girls entered upon the most menial duties' with as much enthusiasm as a child clasps! n new doll on Christmas morning. They brought joy to jnded foremen, who have tried in rain to inspire men workers with a feeling that the work they were doing was worth while. Tho result of this enthusiasm has been apparent in less than a week. A woman who was carrying stock from one place to another when she began a week ago is now operating a radio drill. It is true that she had had machine shop experience, experi-ence, but she had to io through the clearing clear-ing honse first. Other cirls were helpers to armature winders and machinists; still others were painting, packing, shipping and the like. Often the workers are too willing. W. T. Shortall, master mechanic and responsible respon-sible for so much of the work in tho yard ! ill' " WitlSlSJ f 2E5ltlMlUF( OENDO cC ANGELINA 'MM that he needs the long legs with which nature has endowed him, said that hi principal task was to hold them back from the tasks that are suitable only tr men of considerable strength. Fie laughed as he made the comparison between Monday Mon-day morning and Saturday noon, when all hands were glad to quit for the half-holiday half-holiday nnd Sunday rest. On Monday the superintendent presented him to month. mon-th. twenty girls and young women, nil attired alike except for their shoes, and told him to find work for them. Mr. Shortall looked at the girls, taken aback for a moment,' although he knew that the problem was to he submitted to him for,solution. They returned his stare, hardly less abashed than he. "Hofr am I going to boss this crowd?" he mused. "It's tough to order n woman ro go to piling brick and shovelling ashps But I s'pose it's got to be done." While he was trying to get a grip on himself tho newcomers relieved the situation situa-tion for him. As if by prearranged signal Ihey clamored in chorus : "Well, what do you want us to do?" In five minutes they were scattered over the yard. One girl was placed on a .smnll motor truck for instruction. Others went into the new stockroom with paint brushes and pails. There was a shortage of help on the ash heap and here others found employment. A girl who said that she knew how to handle a horse found a seat on n eart While men lifted carboys into a freight car two energetic young women set them back into, the oomor of the car. This was soon after half-past seven o'clock. At noon there were some unusually healthy nppetites to be satisfied. satis-fied. This, in a general way. is a description of what has happened in a week nt Edge-water, Edge-water, X. J. Officinls of the company were satisfied that they knew what they were doing when they issued this notice: A Patriot Announcement. "To the employes of the General Chemical Chem-ical Company. Hudson River works: "Our country has been forced into a war which, on account of recent dovclop-ments, dovclop-ments, may last a number of years. The longer it last6 tho larger mnst grow onr array and nary, recruited from the man ( power of the lnud. j "It; is the duty of all loyal citizens, j both men nnd women alike, to help the country In its fight for liberty, inspired by , tho examples of the countries of our j allies, whore the men have gone to the I front and (he women are Inking up their work at home. "Our company has therefore decided, I in preparation for what the near future j may bring, to offer opportunities now for I patriotic women to come into our plant and work in positions for which they m.'iy" be fitted, the understanding being that no present employe will be discharged dis-charged to make way for theso women ; We shall simply rearrange certain work j so as to provide the necessary openings, and aro sure wo can count on the loyal fo-operntion of all our employes in helping help-ing the women 'do their hit' "Please inform anv woman von knnn- who would be interested that applications in this work will he received beginning Wednesday. November 14, 3917." The officials had expected results from that notice, it is doubtful, however, if they were prepnred for the flood of applications appli-cations which followed. Three or four times ns ninny girls and young women could havo been put to work thnn actually actu-ally were employed, but the company held true to its policy of careful investigation. investi-gation. Every dny finds new bloomered employes in the yards nnd shops. Applications Appli-cations have been received from women from all parts of the country. Some of the women who are doing their "hit" are shown in the photographs herewith. |