Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 151, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1918 — GIRLS DO GOOD WORK [ARTICLE]

GIRLS DO GOOD WORK

American Telephone Operators Now Serving in France. Hundred Who Were Sent Over Giving Such Efficient Service More Will Be Sent. Washington.—To the 100 girls from America now doing service as military telephone operators in France, 150 more in training schools here may soon be added, leaving a reserve force of 400 more on file out of about 8,000 applications. The telephone is referred to as the “nerves of the army,” and the young women who have been accepted for this" work have undergone tests as severe as those to which a soldier at the front is subjected. The telephone .exchanges often are only a short distance behind the trenches, and the operator must possess both courage and calmness under dangerous circumstances. “These girls,” said Capt. E. J. Wesson, who recruited the unit, are going to astound the people over there by their efficiency. In Paris it takes from 40 to 60 seconds to complete one call. Our girls are equipped to handle 300 calls an hour.” \ Other reports that have reached the war department from France show that the American hello girl Is making good rapidly ip altask as difficult as Is to be found back of the front line trenches. ♦ The first group of operators entered training school here on January 12 for Instruction in advanced telephony. They received practice in the largest New York exchanges and were then tried out at military cantonments. The course Included talks upon personal hygiene. The first contingent sailed on March 2. Other groups sailed in March and April and were stationed at supply depots and debarkation bases. Ipuiddlfion to speaking both French Und English fluently, every one of these girls has stood a loyalty test which proved that she could be trusted Wtth military information. feie uniform prescribed consists of a'spat and skirt of navy blue serge, shirtwaist of navy blue Palm Beach

cloth and straight-brimmed hat of blue felt, while the regulation orange and white cord on the left sleeve is used to designate their rank, as operator, supervisor, chief operator and so on.