A WORKING-GIRL'S PARADISE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 793, 16 April 1910, Page 11

A WORKING-GIRL'S PARADISE.

\;; ■ CADB-DlirS BOURNVILLE. ;; Bμ happiest factory' girls in the world—these are the 2700 little girls. : elder girla and women who are em■'.■•.■■■lWed at; Cadbury's works at BournTUle,.the model city near Birmingham, where as nearly as may,bo.the problem has been solved of how. to secure good work from factory employees, and at the same tune to give those employees ample opportunities for physical, mental,, and moral , development. Miss Aitken, who Has just obme on a holiday, .visit to New Zealand, has livedfor seven years at Bourneyille, and : grves a most; interesting and onthusias- ■"■; tic _ account of the . conditions under which the girls there work. Other English manufacturers -have dreamed of an ideal :setting for their factories, but none have come so. near to realising their, ideal as the Cadbury firm.. : BournviUe was a gentleman's estate, with beaotifully laid out grounds and shady; trees. In the middle of it the firm placed their factory building, houses, in; the Tudor ; style, with gabled roofs, lattice windows, and timbered' 'walls, picturesque buildings that, instead of spoiling the grounds, gave.themran added,; beauty. .■'■'.-■ In buildings 2700 girls are employed, not all of'them in the chocolate works. There aTe. scores of girle, girls in the box factory, and a whoii y army of girl .typists who see nothing' '. of chocolate or cocoa, but it is in that department that most of them are em- '■ ployed,- wrapping the 'sweets in silver paper,;.sorting out fmite and'nuts, or :'■ making; ..This.:last is.heavy work, 'and Us, only entrusted : to. the ■ strongest girls. :■ "'■. ,: : ' .■■;■ .. V ';.' Situations at Bonmeville do 'not go ; legging, ; and; the- applicant 'has a. re- ~ gular routine te go'through. If she is taken at the age of fourteen, sha must have passed the seventh st-ari-! dard, she must have: passed a medical examination, and her. teeth inust be in good condition. Then'her parents ere asked to sign a paper promisinjf thatshe shall take the educational advantages offered, which means that from the age of fourteen to sixteen she shall attend physical culture lessons (in gym- ■ nasium or swimming' baths) twice a week in working; hours, and go on with •' 'her.general education at classes on two nights a week.; The next, two years she y gives two nights a week-to education, and - one ■' night ' : a ,weet for. phy- : eical culture. W,'. ■ ■'■;.:"'■■ '.:•.■;.. '■

■.-..•.". .The .training-is varied, in /the -years from.: li! td: 20, when on" two nights a " week '■. she attends a■• housewifery. trainIng school,., where- she , learns" cooking, • . laundry .work, .marketing, , house^clean-. ing, and in "fact every thing generallj needed for housekeeping. These things ere not to be treated in, : a perfunctory fashion; tho keynote of all' the classes b thoroughness,■• and promotion in the factory depends . on" the reports from the various teachers. . ..-.-■■ This thoroughness is carried into every branch. The girls may if they like learn gardening in'their ■leisure/. hours;.there are beautiful gardens and expert gardeners, as teachers, but if a ' - girl thinks she would like to learn, she must go on with it thoroughly, attend nil the classes, and take an-examina-- . -... tion at the end ;'• Four fully-trained . teachers are in charge of the, physical-culture classes, and the games, and thegirls play hoc-, key, cricket, tennis,' and play matches with'all the. ladies' clubs in the Mid- . lands. They have-a; beautiful swimming bath, closed in and with a supply of tepid water, and from the ..■'■■. galleries around are 'bathrooms fof every kind; This bath is a source of great enjoyment to the girls, many of whom are expert swimmers, and the facilities provided for physical ■ culture nave, during the last few years, re- .-•,->■ salted : in a. very marked improvement in the physique of the girls. • Miss ■ Aitkon has some beautiful photographs illustrating various departments,' and a most interesting one shows the great dining-room, with perhaps 1500 girls seated there: Excellent meals are supplied at a small cost, and for those girls who prefer to buy their food there are hot air cupboards whore it can be kept hotfor hours. They are e trim, comely-looking company. They i dress in white, a fresh white linen frock each Monday being the rigid rule, and there are sumptuary 1 laws: that forbid the wearing of jewellery; There are no glass-jewelled brooches, and pins,, no '.. strings of pearls : to' : be seen/ and when a girl adopts an extravagant. coiffure, ■■; ehe.is asked to wear a'huge white capenring work hours,, for no .beads ' trinkets-or stray hairs must find their way into the chocolates, and tho result is all to the advantage of the girls' appearance.: .- . .. '..'■•■ ■ Some of the girls live in the village, and. all live within a radius of three ;.-. miles. Of course, many of them have much time free from any factory super- , vision, but there are numerous clubs for them to join at Bournville, anddur- ' Ing the winter there are frequent entertainments.; They are able to engage the best talent, and during -thei season they- . nave lectures from university vprofes- ' Bora—Sir Oliver Lodge has been twice m one winter—and the-municipal-or-■ganist from Birmingham' goes down occasionally to give a recital on the beautiful organ'in the dining-room*. • : The girls get. 7s.' for ,the 'first week/ and after that they,are paid for piecework, and good workers will make from '... £1 to M 10s a, week, \while the' fore-' women get more. Every year the pro- / pnetors add something to the improvements on the place. One year they will give a swimming; bath, the next a convalescent : home, the next they will enlarge the playgrounds." Always they ... Bpend.part of their profits On their em-" . ployees. Along the girls' playground runs ] a bank, which, bears on its side ' S whl te Pebbles the words "Cadbury, Bournville," the lettering being large '' t? m Z h J° be read from the railway ■ toe The firm keeps a suggestionoook, and the employees arc paid for suggestions according to their value - eiri,who. thought of that while' • pebble advertisement received £10 for--1 her bnlliant idea. . •The _ village of Bournville has been . presented'by the Cadbury firm to the nation, with the stipulation that no intoxicating liquor-shall be 'sold-there•' and though liquor.may bo- imported ;- jaw-rule is largely responsible for the tact, that it .is the most successful of model villages. ': -'-~