Under The Camouflage
INTIMATE WAR EXPERIENCES AND
OBSERVATIONS OF
LOWELL MELLET
■
(United Press Staff Correspondent)
§
imiiBlil
LONDON. Nov. 22.—Talked with
Maj. Gen. Maurice, director of military
operations. He was so full of the satis
factory Cambrai push that he was
likely to burst. But he didn’t and the
interview did not develop a lot that is
new. However, one doesn't chalk up
against the general, for he seldom dis
appoints without good reason.
Interviewing Gen. Maurice is some
what like attending a class room lec
ture, with the same privilege of ask
ing questions at the end. You couln’t
exactly call him a good fellow; he
never forgets he’s a general in the
army, but he is direct and to the
point and fuller of information than
the new India paper edition of the
Encyc. Britt.
Got a little extra excitement out of
the Byng push on my own account.
Sunday night on an Underground
train 1 met two tired, but contended.
Tommies, just arrived home on leave.
In return for a match they volunteer
ed the information that the biggest
show of all w'as due in a couple of
days. Told where it would take place,
what a lot of tanks were lined up for
the plunge, the cavalry preparations
and various other details borne out by
Haig’s bulletins of yesterday and to
day.
Usually the tales the Tommies tell
you are more interesting than accur
ate. This was an amazing exception.
There's a defense of the realm regu
lation against Tommies telling all
they know. Fortunately this happy
pair borrowed their match from a
friend who didn’t believe them, in
stead of from one of the thinning band
of German spies that still infest Lon
don.
Shaplen left for Petrograd tonight to
join the United Press bureau there.
There is something rather fine about
this young Russo-Philadelphian’s pil
grimage home to do what he can to
help Russia save herself. His idea is
that nothing will help his native coun
try so much as American understand
ing of w'hat she is doing and trying to j
do—the good and the bad of the gigan-;
tic internal struggle. He seems to
hope for the best, while prepared for!
the worst, believing the worst cannot
last forever.
Last week one w’ondered why there
is no real co-ordinated allied command.
This week one finds there is one.
Next week one is going to Paris to
watch it co-ordinate.
ENGLISH CHANNEL, Nov. 24.—
Somehow you can tell a Hoosier.
If you find a smiling gentleman who
fills his clothes well and wears a will
ing-to-get-acquainted smile only slight
ly diluted by traveler’s caution, he’s
more apt to be from Indiana than any
where else.
I was swept into the dining saloon
tonight by the breeze created by the
the earnest advent of just such a one.
“What part of Indiana?” I asked,
feeling safe.
“Middletown.”
When he learned that Elwood, only
a dozen miles distant, proudly claim
ed me, he was astonished and remark
ed that the world is a small place.
“My name’s Ginn,” he said. Told him
mine.
"Any relation to Doc. Ginn ” I ask
ed.
“Cousin; You any relation to Hick
Slellett?”
“Brother.”
He repeated his observation on the
size of the world and introduced his
companion, Mr. Maulding. Ginn is as
sistant controller of the U. S. treas
ury, and Maulding assistant auditor of
the war department. They are en
route to France to audit army ac
counts, being the advance guard of a
battalion of auditors on the way.
At the table we found a nicely salt
ed citizen—salted by sea breeze—who
proved to be the redoubtable Capt. T.
H. Dobson, of Tacoma and San Fran
cisco. known in every port of the Pa
cific. On temporary leave from the
China Pacific Steamship company, he
is engaged in a French port superin
tending the repairs to American and
British transport vessels. As the cap
tain inquired concerning mutual Ta
coma friends, Mr. Ginn’s estimation of
the world’s size shrank still further.
Dinner, however, was the principal
thing discussed. It included sugar,
right out on the open table, and but
ter. It was the first real butter any
of us had seen for many days. But
there it was, a large plate of it, and no
restrictions on the butter-famined
guests. The steward explained that
the boat stocked its butter and sugar
on the French side of the channel.
Met Lieut. Col. Baker, of the Salva
tion army, on deck. He is in charge
of that army’s work among American
soldiers in France. The work is sim
ilar to that of the Y. M. C. A., he said
save that emphasis is placed on the
religious needs of the soldiers instead
of their recreational needs.
Just met another acquaintance—a
wintry gale from Medicine Hat, Mont.
It is a long way for a wind to come,
but the one that’s rocking this here
boat now could have come from no
where else. However, she’s a pretty
good boat; w-hile she has laid down
and rolled over several times, she
hasn't played dead yet.
Mr. Maulding just looked in to re
port that the world has been growing
larger in friend Ginn’s eyes and that
home look a long way off.
EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN
IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE
“What is to become of all the war
workers who are flocking to Wash
ington, chiefly stenographers and
typists, after the war is over?’’ is a
question frequently asked the federal
civil service commission by thousands
of women throughout the United
States.
The question is a pertinent one, and
the commission has an answer. It is:
“It seems certain that there must be
a reduction of force when the war
ends, but it is equally certain that the
United States government can never
go back to the before-the-war status.
The new appointees are in competi
tion with the older employees, and
when reductions of forces become
necessary, the law of the survival of
the fittest will prevail."
The commission is urging women to
accept stenographic and typist posi
tions in the government service at
Washington as a war contribution,
even at personal sacrifice. “The very
best opportunity for a woman to enter
the federal classified service is found
now. as it always has been, in the
stenographer and typewriter or the
separate typewriter examination. Un
der present conditions all who pass
either of these examinations are as
sured by the civil service commission
of certification for appointment, for
the demand is almost in excess of the
supply,” says the commission. Ex
aminations for these positions are held
in 450 cities. To the women with a
common or high school education and
training in stenography or typing,
these examinations offer an excellent
opening.
Many college women also are enter
ing the service through this door, in
the well-founded belief that by reason
of their superior educational advan
tages they may in reasonable time be
promoted to more responsible posi
tions.
One of the changes wrought by the
war is the preference now given wo
men in positions which were formerly
open to men only. The general im
pression that women were discrimin
ated against in civil service appoint
ments was not due to the rules of the
commission, which provide that “cer
tifications (of eligibles, for filling va
cancies) shall be made without regard
to sex, unless sex is specified in the
| request." Almost invariably sex is
specified in, the request of the appoint
ing officer for the three names of ellgi
[ bles from which he is to make a selec
tion. Under normal conditions the
, call was for men much more often
| than for women, even when the work
to be done was that which either men
or women might undertake.
War changed all that. At its out
set the employing officers appointed a
1 greater porportion of women, for the
simple reason that men in sufficient
numbers were not to be had. The re
i suit has convinced the doubters that
most lines of office work can be per
| formed by women as satisfactorily as
by men, and increased calls for women
| have followed.
I The woman civil service appointee
is of comparatively recent origin. As
t late as 1870 legislative action was
| considered necessary to permit the ap.
pointment of women in government
offices.
Before the United States entered
the war the total number of positions
classified under the federal civil ser
ice law was slightly more than 300.
000. There has been a pronuonced in
; crease in ttie past few months; the
[exact figures are not available. Bar
ing the fiscal year ending June 3",
| 1317, women were appointed to fully
i 25 per cent of the positions the duties
i °f which could be performed by either
men or women. Of approximately
15,000 appointments made to clerical
and other office positions in Washing
ton since the war began, about 40 per
cent have gone to women.
“Messenger girl” is a new title in
government offices and is a war de
velopment. The supply of messenger
boys for public and private business
ran short. Business houses as well as
government offices at Washington art
employing messenger girls.
The civil service commission does
not determine what examinations shall
be open to women; in every instance
the specification is made by the ap
pointing power, and the commission
furnishes men or women as eligibles
accordingly.
-♦
TRENCH CANDLES
MADE BY GIRL SCOUTS
The men in ramp find trench can
dles convenient when they want to
warm up a cup of coffee or a bowl
of soup, or when they wish to read in
an unlighted portion of camp or field
The “Brownie” members of the Girl
Scouts of Washington spend a por
tion of their time each week in making
these trench candles, which are hand
ed to the Red Cross for distribution.
Trench car.fU.es are made by cutting
out eight full length column strips
from a newspaper. The first strip is
rolled as tightly as possible, then the
other six strips are rolled carefully
around this foundation, one by one, fin
til a compact cylinder is formed. This
is tightly tied with thread, then it is
boiled for half an hour in paraffin,
when it is taken out and cooled. When
it has become cold it is treated to an
other bath in the paraffin for another
half hour, and when cooled for the
second time it is ready for use.
-4
VISITOR FROM ENGLAND
Sir Frederick K. Smith, who was
Great Britain's censor during the first
year of the war, Is now on a visit in
the United States. He believes the
censorship should not prevent the pub
lication of the heroic deeds of the
troops.
Fish That Do Not 8l#ep.
“In my room I have a bowl of water
containing goldfish. I noticed that
(these fish never sleep. Sometimes I
jStay up at night reading until one
o’clock, but even at that hour these
fish are as frisky as In the daytime,
writes a correspondent in the Cardiff
I Western Mail. I pointed this curious
i fact out to a friend who is a naturalist,
and he told me that there are several
species of fish, reptiles and insects
} which never sleep during the whole of
their existence. Among fish, he ex
plained, It is positively known that
goldfish, salmon and pike never sleep
at all; also that there are several oth
ers in the fish family that never sleep
more than a few minutes a month.”
•-♦
Conserve food, especially beef,
sugar, fats and waste.
-»
Food means life; It means some
body’s life; and you cannot escape res
ponsibility.
THE MELTING POT
AND REGISTRATION
That foreign women in the United
States are volunteering to work for
Uncle Sam and the allies is evident
from the registration taken by the
woman’s committee of the council of
hational defense. There have been
.many reports of Italian women doing
Red Cross work or buying Liberty
bonds. Polish women, Russians, Por
tuguese and Japanese offer all sorts
of service. The Chinese were a fea
ture in Chicago’s registration. But the
last report from the States is possi
bly the most striking of all, for in
Idaho Basques are volunteers.
“There never was such a test of our
melting pot as this which is on us
now,” says the woman’s committee,
“and the response of the many aliens
who are with us has been as touching
as it Is magnificent.”
-«
Job printing at Daily Times office.
r ::',|!|M!i!l! :.r W i Si i ■;!' ■ ■■■■■■' i ii ii i: it aiaiiiiiiisiiiiii:a ■ ■■ p jtjjHu. m „
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i Special to Mothers
1 WE WISH TO ANNOUNCE to the MOTHERS of
Cordova and vicinity that we are adding
to our store an
Infants' and Children's Department
And will give this department the same careful atten
tion and will carry only the most high class merchandise
that the market affords. Any suggestions from the
Mothers pertaining to this department, wouid be greatly
appreciated.
1
-—■■ ■- —- - -.LIL. '■
“DO YOUR BEST'' .
For the I
And Help
WIN THE WAR
\
i
I
———T»>^. ■p^p—————Mpp—
Alaskan Hotel
ROBERT GOTT8CHALK—Proprietors
"The House of Comfort."
THE BEST EQUIPPED HOTEL IN
ALASKA
; BARBER SHOP IN CONNECTION.
Hot and Cold Water, Electric Bella,
Electric Lights, Steam Heat, Suites
With Bath.
CORDOVA . ALASKA
. •
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