GIRL IN OVERALLS

Hokitika Guardian, 2 August 1930, Page 6

GIRL IN OVERALLS

“DAY AS GROUND ENGINEER-’,’.; j ; A 111 J OLE 13 Y MISS JOHNSON ; LONDON., Jufie o. -‘-‘A. day as a Ground Engineer” i« tlie title of an article by ...Miss vAmy Johnson, the !Kngland-Ai.s-ralia flyer, which appears in the June nainbyrtof' the ‘.‘Woman Engineer.” life, by Jove, it’s a good out,” ndfe;; writes. “Hf- I didn’t do it a'.l voßmtarily and for nothing 1 should,, : jaT course, consider I was .-■grossly overworked, ill-treated, underfed, andj£nii-\ derpaid.” • l Miss Johnson lias graphic pbwcrsjol description. “On with the • slightly, soiled I’m afraid—and ‘ steps of the hangar ~l* go a.nnod gfease.-gUn, oil-squirt, spanner, find the like, for an engine awaits my; ; pfijivj s.onaj attention... First I wash it (downs —with every minute the engine grows cleaner and I dirtier. Tug, tug,-tug --petrol-filters do sip .object to .being unscrewed. There! I’ve knockedMUit the last of mv o.nce-ppiil.ted fingerpails ‘Hoi, mate, help,” shout I to lily overall-covered neighbour’‘|u:R<ishe steps of the next ' machine;-' ‘ fidp yourself to a big spanner.’ Most liging and encouraging! A large'' heavy hammer somehow drops from my engine. I watch it get larger and heavier all the way down from the top of the engine right downto. .Etch big toe of the boss’s boot.. Wonderful, rhetoric burst from his lips. Sudden-; ly lie stops and turns to me as J lis-: ten in awe, wondering for the.h.unr, dredth time when I shall be proficient ; enough to be awarded an engineer s license. ‘Did you catch any of that?.',. ‘Oh, no, I didn’t hear a word!’ ! “The afternoon passes uneventfully, except for a newspaper man who ar-., rives and asks to see the ‘lady en-.v gineer.” Everyone looks blank. No lady here.’ I emerge rubbing divty, hands on the seat of my overalls and join in the search. But when 1 wash, my hands and face for tea my secret is discovered. You want to know what I’ve done? No? What I wear? Oh,. I see. Well, I wear overalls over' my clothes and over my overalls, oil, grease, dirt But he’s gone. v “Now here comes a photographe|. Oh. hurry, where’s my heart-shaped helmet, ray manicure set, and my. powder-puff? Where can mv powderpuff he’ There’s a spanner in my stern pocket, a few loose nuts, screws' 'and bolts in every pocket. But where, oh. where, is my powder-puff pocket? Yon see I must look nice’ for the photographer, for I’ve been told that every pilot lias several proposals weekly, so 1 must spread abroad my beauty. I’ve had no proposals yet, so I suppose I’m no pilot!”