GIRL IN TEE CAR

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 103, 3 May 1919, Page 10

GIRL IN TEE CAR

FITNESS AND PROSPECTS

PLACE IN THE MOTOR WORLD,

The purpose of "The Women's Motor Manual," written by Gladys de Haviland (Temple Press, London), is to be a vade mecum to the lady motorist. Bnt it is so interestingly written that it becomes as much a work of general as of' j technical interest. This is no place to tx.l er to the technical features of-. the work except to say that they are dealt ' with in a very simple way, and are quite | easy to read" and understand. The war I demonstrated what women could do as motor drivers —in fact, revealed "The Goddess in the Car." Women chauffeurs have come to stay. They had now done every description of car work from motor i 'bus driving to despatch carrying. They have.proved that they can drive as well as men —better than some men. The i writer holds that women as motorists will i continue in increasing numbers now that ' they have obtained a firm grasp of the. j steering wheel. j • WHEN WAR CAME. | When war came it took all the male I drivers of the private limousine as well as of the mineral water van; of the motor- ■ 'bases, as well as of the" Royal Mail' vans. "Car owners were at their wits' ends to find drivers. Why, then, it was asked should not women enter tho motoring field?"—and they did. They flocked to motoring schools in hundreds. They were mostly educated women, but largo as the influx of them was, it did not suffice, and a,ll classes of women offered and we're taken—arid mad'o good. The writer ought to know her subject at first hand, for she says she has driven everything from a car with a Cabinet Minister in it to a motor delivery van as a commercial proposition. The girl going in for driving must be no weakling. The job requires "a sound and a fairly muscular physique." Miss de Haviland knows as much about her sex as a-bout her car, for she finds it necessary to remind neophytes that "When driving for a living, with an employer on board, orders have to bs exactly obeyed, however trying those orders may be."

How should a woman start as a pro. fessional driver? The author, after showing that a diffident though fully competent driver may not so easily obtain an appointment as one with "cheek" and possibly but little ability.

DRIVE A VAN FIRST. . "To my thinking (she writes), an inexperienced woman cannot do better than become a driver of a commercial van at first, for, by doing, so, she will obtain all the practice in driving she could desire." Besides, she will,not have her employer sitting by her side on a van — a frequent cause of nervousness in a beginner. To be conscious of an employer's gaze at such a time is not exactly soothing to the nerves. The writer claims equal pay for equal work, regardless of the sex of the chauffeur. '

Some women object to wearing a uniform as chauffeuses. But the author shows that it has its advantages,- and among them are immunity from the accusation of "swank," and tho consideration of male drivers—for,-, she writes, "I can state definitely that many of the men drivers and garage hands alike have proved the soul of courtesy in dealing with paid women drivers who are definitely dtiing men's work, especially on a big car, and not merely showing off at the helm of k light oar. The same thing applies to the road."

INCONSIDERATE WOMEN. As to employers, Miss de Haviland does not spealt favourably of her own sex. "The worat examples.of employers who cannot keep a chauffeuse because of their inconsiderateness and occasionally even inhumanity, are undoubtedly women. Some women drivers have adopted a settled policy of never driving a car for or owned by a woman. "It might well have been thought that a lady employer would have been much more likely to remember a woman's needs (■ban a man owner, but although some women are all that could be desired in this respect, there appears to be ?, pronounced majority on the other side."

Many women show a total indifference to the nesd of their women drivers for food and rest, and will keep them wait ing long outside, in possibly had weather, while they could well have been told to seek shelter, rest, and food, and ordered to return at a definite time.

"Men, as a rule, are more systematic than women in planning^ out the day (is one reason given to the author); but wo men—of fashion at all ovents—are unwilling to be fettered by hours or rules, and of this weakness the poor driver has to ben1 the brunt." ■. ■

AS CAR SELLERS. The writer holds that women do not make good car sellers as a general rule. "To my thinking (she writes) it is not a position at which the average girl can succeed." 'Good looks are no doubt an advantage, but they are of much less importance than many girls who have them imagine. "A girl in her early twenties (accordiug to Miss de Haviland) "is seldom sufficiently sophisticated or businesslike to 'pull off a deal,' and, in the second place, anybody who is going to expend' some hundreds, perhaps, in buying a car, will go about the matter carefully and thoughtfully, and would prefer to discuss ths matter with an experienced salesman who is also an expert in mechanism. In fact, however pretty and charming a girl might be, the average customer would prefer to talk business with a. man."

The little work is full of human interest.