Chapter VIII: Section 5: of 1907 there continues to be faithful observance of the

law.”[181] The War brought reverberations into these workplaces as well as into all others. New ideas were aroused among managers by the varied experiments in special workrooms for unemployed women, during the first few months of the War, under Queen Mary’s Fund.[182] The great general demand for women’s and girls’ labour altered the whole position for any of them willing to retrieve themselves by service to the nation, and it was interesting to learn that the numbers in the Homes markedly declined. After the War, girl inmates began to show their new powers of initiative by writing to the Senior Lady Inspector, thus showing the value of abstracts and notices with names and addresses affixed in the workplace.

In one such place a complaint was seriously justified by the investigation that followed. Long hours of work for very young girls, total absence of outdoor games, with poor dietary, had resulted in much sickness. I visited the head of the Sisterhood, of which this institution was a branch work, with the Senior Lady Inspector, and we found her open to the reception of new ideas. A change in management followed, with happy results. We received, some months later, direct from the girls and their new Sister Superior, a hearty and welcome invitation to attend their annual festivity.