Part 16

We trained absolutely unskilled men and women during this slack period, so that when we started in quantity production we had also obtained speed. An item that might be of interest to you is the fact that we are now employing women in Drill Presses, Milling Machines, Hand and Automatic Screw Machines, Turret Lathes, Speed Lathes, Engine Lathes, Assembly Work and Inspection Work.

These women and the majority of the unskilled men whom we employed are doing work in most cases where dimensions are held to one-half thousandth of an inch limit variation. In a plant employing excess of five thousand people am absolutely convinced that a separate vestibule training school is a necessity, and in plants already producing work in large quantities there is liable to be a heavy demand for trained skilled workers, a separate training school would be necessary.

However, where the number of workers needed do not exceed ten people on an individual operation training on machines in the department would be sufficient.

August 7, 1918.

(Signed) J. A. ROTHENBERG, Employment Manager.

THE YALE & TOWNE MFG. CO.

Stamford, Conn.

We have had in operation for over a year a vestibule school for the training of women employees in our plant, and are obtaining good results from it.

We are training the women mostly for bench and machine work which was formerly done by men, such as: Lock assembling; drill press work, which was formerly considered inappropriate for women employees; hand screw machine and automatic screw machine operators.

We are also training female help on lathe and shaper work. We plan to do the same thing on milling machines and expect eventually to include tool room work.

Our vestibule school activities include the training of male foundry workers, and the training both of men and women to become instructors and machine adjusters.

We also have an Apprenticeship School.

August 13, 1918.

(Signed) THE YALE & TOWNE MFG. CO., J. A. HORNER, Vice-President.

ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS

154 E. Erie Street, Chicago

We are planning to have this school in operation within the next month. The writer expects to be responsible for the results. We expect to take one good man from our own plant as an instructor, and we are also in communication with an instructor from a college in a Western State whom we may have in direct charge of this work should he prove to be the proper person.

At the present time we have in our factory about 75 female employees, on Lathes, Milling Machines, Grinders, Finishing Gauges, Lapping, etc., also inspectors, timekeepers and stock chasers.

Since your last visit we have employed a trained nurse who is in charge of the employment and welfare work of all women employed in the factory. This we have found has given us much better results and can truthfully say that with very few exceptions, every girl employed is certainly making good.

We have one instance where a man employed in the screw machine department, employed in that capacity for about a year, was having trouble in not producing on his machine. We had him exchange machines with a woman who had had a month’s experience and found that she practically doubled his output the first day.

(Signed) J. D. SHERMAN, Factory Manager.

August 5, 1918.

GLEASON WORKS

Rochester, N. Y.

When you came to Rochester we were very much impressed with the suggestions you made as to the introduction of women into industry. We sent two representatives together with others from Rochester to Dayton, as you advised, to investigate the conditions there and also in Cincinnati. The excellent arrangements made by the Cincinnati manufacturers to relieve the shortage of labor by placing women at work in machine shops and elsewhere were extremely interesting.

After learning what had been done we started using women in our machine shop in line with your idea and the results have been very satisfactory. * * * It is not a question of economy with us but of releasing men for other work in the foundry which women cannot perform. We believe that an intensive training of two weeks would enable women to turn out practically as much work as men are now doing.

August 5, 1918.

(Signed) JAMES E. GLEASON.