The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
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.lews Iiraimg f 5;r
on; fre Dignified Lord Norbury is
Grinding at a Lathe, Lord Albemarle
Making Soldiers9 Boots, Lord
Ashburnham Feeding a Furnace,
Lady Curzon Sewing on Shirts, and
the Duchess of Rutland Canning
Food for the Fighters.
Zionfton, July II.
PERHAPS tba most astonishing
transformation produced by the
treat war ! that It bat aet the
British nobility bard at work.
Many noble lords are, of course, fight"
log In the war, for that baa always been
the favorite occupation of a gentleman,
bat the necessities of the present con
fllct make a much higher demand upon
the British upper classes than merely
calling- for a supply of officers. These
classes at last realise that unless they
not only provide an army but arm and
equip It efficiently they will have no coun
try left worth lighting for, and wiU spend
the rest of their lives being; kicked
iround by efficient Prussian officers.
As a consequence, wealthy noblemen
who never did anything harder than
shooting" over their estates, are (rinding
away at shell cases and doing even
rougher work If they have not sufficient
skill to do that Even women of title,
many of them young and beautiful, ac
customed hitherto to a life of luxury and
admiration, have been performing the
roughest kind of war labors.
The first nobleman to go to work on'
war munitions was the Earl of Norbury,
one of the richest and most dignified
noblemen of England. In the peerage
he is described as William Srabason
Llndesay Graham-Toler, fourth Earl of
Norbury,' Baron Norwood, Baron Nor
bury and Viaoount Qlaname. Now he la
a band In a machine ahop.
He was too old for military service
and not trained to be an officer. More
over, be realised that the need of war
munitions In the British army was even
greater than that of soldiers. He ap
plied for the Iflrst useful Job he could
bear of, and obtained one In an aero
plane factory, lie has been photo
graphed working at a lathe and deposit
ing his time check, showing that he la
doing his duty like a regular workman
without any nonsense or favoritism.
"The hours are 6 a. m. to 7 p. m
with half an hour for breakfast and an
bour for dinner," Lord Norbury told a
correspondent of this newspaper.
"I am not altogether strange to the
work," he explained. "I have run a
lathe of my own for the last thirty-five
years. and have been used to turning
my hand to all kinds of mechanical lobs
that wanted doing. I had Intended at
first to offer myself for shell work, but
when an advertisement appeared asking
for mechanics for an aeroplane factory
I applied for a Job and was taken on."
Lord Norbury is fifty-three years of
age, but has the appearance and en
thusiasm of a man half his age. "Though
the hours are long, they will not mean
much hardship for me," he said. "I Ilka
work, and am never happier than when
I'm working at something."
Once when be was staying with soma
frienda In the backwoods of Canada, be
related, he put In no less than eighteen
hours In one day on some pipe-fitting In
the house.
The peer munition maker receives ex
actly the same treatment as the other
workmen, and lodges In one room near
the factory.
Many other members of the nobility,
both men and women, were stirred to
action by Lord Norbury'a example and
promptly sought work where they could
be useful In supplying the array's needs.
The noble Earl of Albemarle la trying
to make strong boots for the soldiers,
having always bad a gift for this kind
of work. The equally noble Earl of
Ashburnham found that the best Job he
eould obtain was shovelling coal Into a
furnace where shells were being made
The Duches of Rutland, mother of
the famous Manners girls, is making
herself useful preparing little Una of
. pork and onlona for the soldiers.
go grave has been the lack of war
materials and munitions in England that
many women have gone to work In the
factories. The supply of ordinary work
ing women was not sufficient for the
purpose and many women of title and
huh social position have gone to work
on such tasks as making 'uniforms and
even making shells. They expect In this
way net only to Increase the war sup
plies, but to shame the men who have
not been doing their utmost.
Among the spoiled darlings of society
who have thus gone to work perhaps the
most beautiful and picturesque is the
Viscountess Curzon. She is the wife of
Viscount Curxon, who Is the eldest son
of Earl Howe, and is only a very dis
tant relation of Lord Curson of Kedles
ton, who married Miss Letter, of Wash
ington. Lady Curson la considered the most
perfect typo of beauty from the racial
standpoint In England. On this account
she was chosen "Queen of Beauty" at
the great pageant called "Shakespeare'a
England," organised by Lady Randolph
Churchill in 1912. All the most beauti
ful women and Handsome men In Eng
lish society took part In this affair, rep
resenting the famous characters of
Queen Elizabeth's time.
Again, sha was selected "Queen of
Beauty" at a reproduction of a mediaeval
tournament of knights in armor, held
later.
The Viscountess la very tall, nearly
six feet, with exquisite golden hair and
large blue eyes. Her figure la magnifi
cent Her complexion has the pink and
white quality that Is needed to perfect
such a type of beauty.
Although ao exquisitely graceful and
beautiful. Lady Curzon la strong and
muscular. 8fie la a splendid horsewoman
and good at nearly every sport Bhe la
therefore well qualified to do the hard
est kind of work on war materials.
But the great value of such a worker,
of course, Is to stir the men up to do
their duty.
Lady Mary Charterls, daughter of the
Earl of Wemyss, is another beautiful girl
of the British who Is working on war
munitions.
The members of Queen Mary's Needle
work Guild wear overalls and work all
day making clothes for the soldiers In
their ball In Church street, Chelsea.
They also furnish bandages and other
requisites for the surgical service.
These devoted needlewomen Include
the most fashionable women In English
society. The committee In charge of tho
Chelsea branch Includes Lady Mary
Howard, daughter of the Earl of Car
lisle, Lady Klddell and the Countess
Cadogan.
Thousands of girls have qualified them
selves for such very bard and difficult
work as shell making. These have to
be (finished on a lathe until they are
within one five-thousandth of an Inch of
.CP
A
English Girls Working
the required standard of siie. In mak
ing the fuse of a shrapnel shelL one of
the simplest shells made, one hundred
different lathes are required.
Lord Kitchener hae aent a telegram
to Glasgow saying, "Tell the girls em
ployed in Macgreor and Company's shops
now highly I appreciate the good work
they are doing In turning out sheila and
how much the country Is Indebted to
them for their efforts."
Among these Glasgow girls are many
women of good social position.
Undoubtedly the women of England
have astonlahed the country by their
willingness to do the hardest kind of
work and also share in the dangers and
hardships of war Itself. Those who have
gone to the front have faced the storm
of death-dealing projecticles with per
fect calmness and bravery and In many ,
cases have been killed.
V I :J If
it - i
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.' 4 .
- I
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The
Viscountess
Curzon,
Twice
Chosen
as
the
Most
Beautiful
Woman
in
England, .
Who
Is
Now
Sewing
, Shirts
for
the
Soldiers.
v. two ,i ii i--.
- r..
-
in an Ammunition Factory, Among
A 6cotch doctor who went to the Bel
gian front with bia wife early In the
war, has written a remarkably interest
ing account of the brave conduct of tha
women there.
"We wers In Tpres oa November 1,
the day after the most terrible battle In
history, when (0,000 English out of 120,
000 fell." be says. "For four months my
wife has been living In Pervyse with
two Englishwomen. Not one house In
the town Itself Is left untouched by
shell Are, The three women lived In a
cellar for the first weeks. Then they
moved Into a partially demolished house.
In early March a shell exploded in the
kitchen and killed two of their soldier
helpers. The women were at work in
the next room. We have had opportun
ity for observing women in war, for we
have seen several hundreds of them
nurses, helpers, chauffeurs, writers un
Copyright 115. by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
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Whom Are Many Women of Title
der varying degrees of strain and dan
ger. "Ths-women whom I met In Belgium
were all alike. They refused to take
their place.' They wers not Interested
In their personal welfare. There have
been Individual men, e few of them
English, French and Belgian, soldiers,
chauffeurs and civilians who have turn
ed tall when the danger was acute. But
the women we have watched are strange
ly lacking in fear. '
" 'I want to see the shells burst' said
a discontented lady at Dunkirk. She was
weary of the peace and safety of a town
twenty mllea bark from the front Wo
men suddenly saw Uiulr time had come
to strip man of ono more of his monopo
lies. For some thousand years he had
been bragging of his carriage and bear
ing In battle."
and Position.
Tho
Wealthy
Earl of
Norbury
Doing His
Regular
Day's.
Work
at a
athe in an
Aeroplane
Factory.
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