WOMEN & WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2745, 13 April 1916, Page 6

WOMEN & WAR

ENGLISH WOMEN AT WORK

AN INTERESTING ADDRESS,

'At the annual meeting of tlip Victoria Leagate last evening Mrs. Corliss, who was in London when war broke out-, and has just returned, gave a very forcible address on the work of women ii} general and the Victoria League in .particular in London. Mrs. Corliss said that the Victoria League had •taken part'in every patriotic movement .at. Home/ and there had scarcely been a icall made in which the league had not been first in the field to give all the holp possible. \ The first trouble encountered at the very beginning of the war was vto organise the tremendous number of women and girls who desired to help. One of the earliest problems wp,s to help the large number of women and girls who had been, suddenly thrown out of work through factories closing down. -These; girls had been brought up in factories,' and 'were not accustomed'to any other class of work, so .they had to .organise classes of instructeach., the .girls, how to mako home-made;'. ; -toys, •" instruct them in simple'.cbblurig.';arid housework, so, that .they*;could'be', given employment where it was needed. - This work was carried out chiefly by the Women's Emergency CorpsVv.-'Then,.they,, had .salerooms for the r disp6sal. of .the'goods they made. A' vof i; ! . girls, were trained as--.'.'special messenger boys,"-' to .take 'tho.iplace.dn 'many cases of older, boys 'ari'dlfeiiable/jthejitito go jntd;'camp. One firstybig/, .was a soldiers' amtulance. irainy-and"the one sent out byV'tlie . league was' one of the best equipped! senV to France.;. On one occasion an order cam© , for '500 small soft cushions, "to ~ support the arms, heads, or Jogs ,of wounded soldiers, when the ordinary : pillows were too large. , .This oixlpf,.lwas.r received one day, and by tho . next afternoon! the. cushions were, ready for : dispatch.' After-the. league was organised,, in London. it was able to send delegates into the provinces .to ! meet the needs of those places. Mrs. Corliss, gives the greatest,praise to the secretary, Miss. Drayton,'iaiid'Miss Talbot, and considers that the former is 'one of the greatest-women'in the Em-, pire. ■ ■ '. The Right to Work. Another .'trying experience were their endeavours 1 tq impress on the English .Government" the ■ ri'ght ; of;' women to work. Women offered to work in the munition .factories,, but they-at first declined to ' accept ;; their: services. Even Mr. Lloyd George Was slow to realise the economic force he had at his disposal, saying that it was against traditions of the • race.. Never again in England', would there be any. talk of menial labour, for women of the highest birth were prepared to do' any work, however, lowly; and it was not an Uncommon sight to see a .duchess and a,factory,girl with their hands in the same sink. The movement culminated in a procession of 50,000 women marching through - the streets of London flying little banners "showing the district or factory they came from', headed by brie big bainrifer emblazoned with tho words" "We come but to ask the Privilege .tq Serve;" : As the result, they were given work, ; and had given splendid satisfaction—better in many cases than the. men they Succeeded. - r lt was a common sight to see women in a neat uniform driving the motor wagons of. Harrod's, "Wh'iteley's, , and RobinSoil's, 'each' with two other girls to as--sist l "in ;-the ; r distribution : of- the goods;> The..'-London. Window Cleaning Company! did not now - employ one man. In a smart uniform, they run about with their, ladders and cleaning utensils, and do'the work splendidly. 1 ; Mrs. Corliss said that it had come to this at. Ilome-pthat a man who was not serving was, either-too delicate, had too many family ties, or was. a coward. She was sorry to say there were still a number who came under the later heading. ' ■; j Caste Barriers Broken. : The war had broken down the barriers of class,; and had- engendered a new spirit of' Empire, and w'ith the arrival in England of, wounded Australians and New Zealanders those places were rediscovered. Most people knew !of. Australia,, but they, kliew very little of New. Zealand, .'amd.'wanted to know everything aboiit-' the'place. . i She referred to the drinking amongst' the wires';of soldldrsj■' consequent upon their never having had' so' much money in tlieir lives beforehand of the difficulty in -teaching'them thrift against the .poriodVof; want coming when peace was declared, the men came, home, and a lot of the factories closed down. One of the latest' works . being done by women was "to equip .'the'old "Star and Garter" at Richmond as a home for disabled soldiers and sailors:

Mrs. Corliss: was given a most hearty splendid address.