back," was the comment of a foreman in a shell factory to the Chief
Woman Factory Inspector on a visit she was paying to it. The skilled
men, teaching the women, have learned a great deal about them, too,
and have helped the women in so many ways. Men have been amazed at the
ability and power and capacity for work of the women and are, on the
whole, very willing to say so and express their admiration.

One munition girl writes: "The timekeeper, quite a gorgeous gentleman
in uniform, gave us quite a welcome.... The charge-hand of the
Welder's shop helped us to start, and stayed with us most of Friday.
He was most kind, and showed us the best way to tackle each job, did
one for us, and then watched us doing it."

Another says, "Our foreman is a dear old man, so kind and full of fun.
The men welders are awfully good to us."

In considering the practical facts of new opportunities for women, one
thing is clear. Masses of our women took their new work as "temporary
war workers," but as the war has gone on, it has become clearer and
clearer that, in many cases, these tasks are going to be permanently
open to women. One reason is that many of the men will never return to
take up their work again--another, that many of them will never return
to what they did before.

They have been living in the open-air, doing such different things,
such big vistas have opened out that they will never be content to
go back to some of their tasks. There is the other fact that we,
like every other country, will need to repair and renovate so much,
will need to create new and more industries, will need to add to our
productiveness to pay off our burdens of debt, and to carry out our