High school girls and matrons; single women with no dependents and
widows supporting families; housekeepers and women who served as Red
Cross workers in the World War; college graduates and women with
little formal education- all are represented in the more than 100
applications received by Col. C. W. Baird, commanding officer of
Camp Upton, for the post of camp hostess.
Since the
war department announced plans to employ one chief hostess and two
junior hostesses at each camp where a service club is maintained,
applications have been coming in steadily in Yaphank, either by mail
or delivered in person.
Lieut.
Colonel R. S. Gibson, executive officer, was granted personal
interviews to all women who have visited the camp seeking
appointments.
At
Camp Upton over the week-end, it was announced that primary
consideration will be given to individuals from local communities
insofar as qualified personnel is found available. It was pointed
out, however, that a definite date for the selection of hostesses at
Upton has not been set because the camp as yet offers no facilities
for hostess housing. Final action will be taken after the camp
receives its first increment of selective service men.
The qualifications for chief of senior hostess are that the
applicant must be between 30 and 50, must be a graduate of a high
school or equivalent, and must have had at least three years’
experience as hostess or equivalent in a similar occupation. The
salary is $1,620 annually.
Examinations of the applications now on file reveals that 16 were
submitted by high school girls and young women under the minimum age
limit of 25 specified for junior hostess. One 21-year-old applicant
listed as qualifications her ability to teach minuet dancing.
A
total of 35 applications fell within the age limits specified for
junior hostess. A majority of the women were high school graduates,
some with one and two years’ college education. One young woman, an
American by birth, was in Great Britain at the outbreak of
hostilities. She served as a member of the Woman’s Voluntary
service in an anti-gas group and later as a member of the British
Red Cross.
Six applicants fall in the 45-50 age group and number three veterans
of Army cantonment work in the World War. One of the three lists
eight years’ academic study in Vienna and at a Sorbonne in Paris.