NEW TRADES FOR WOMEN.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 245, 19 November 1914, Page 4

NEW TRADES FOR WOMEN.

There is no doubt that* Queen Mary's thought for women in this time of grave anxiety and stress touched women in all parts of Great Britain deeply. Thousands of women's thoughts are turned to Wimborne House, London, headquarters of the Central Committee for Women's Employment. This house has been placed at the disposal of the committee by Lady Chelmsford's mother, always an ardent worker and supporter in women's welfare and work.

It was here (writes a London correspondent »that I found Miss Mary Macarthur, the hon. secretary of the committee. She

explained that a great many factories had been taken over by the central committee, the Queen's Fund paying the wages and taking the proceeds. The work of the Royal Army Clothing Department lias been distributed among the workshops in distress. There is also special temporary workrooms at 138 'Piccadilly, where individual workers are employed. These workers are quite of a different type from those who will receive aid through the purely relief workshops now being opened. They are skilled workers, for the moment thrown out of employment. The wealthy section of the community wlio wish to give orders for gifts of clothing, etc., to the forces, are advised where to. place their orders.

' I also learnt from Miss Macarthur that £SOO has just been granted by the fund to the National Organisation of Girls' Clubs. There' are 600 of these clubs throughout the country, each with a membership of from 20 to 600, and it is probable, though not decided yet, that the centres of industry which the clubs will form will provide work for any girl in' need, whether club member or not. Four hundred girls are already employed at the West Central Hall, Tottenham Court centre, which is used as an experiment centre for the club's schemes of work. The girls are divided into those over and those under 18. The younger girls are given instruction and paid a maintenance grant of 1/- per day of five hours, while the older girls work at the minimum rate of 3d per hour, according to the kind of employment.

One department of the Central Committee is devoted to the investigation of new trades for women. In this connection, the Wholesale Textile Association has been holding a eeries of sectional meetings. The possibilities of securing work commonly done in Germany and in Austria were particularly considered. Immediate work for women is difficult, and immediate results in this direction impossible. The English manufacturers have deliberately allowed extra sections of some trades [ to go to Germany, and we are without the necessary machines or the workers wfth the special knowledge of them. In the case of artificial flower making, the enormous differences between the cost of labour here and in Germany makes com' petition out of the question. The same thing is true regarding cheap knitted hosiery and underwear. Perhaps the biggest opportunity in the near future lies in the direction of soft toys, which are growing in popularity and cover a wide range.