prisoner in the cells, keep guard over her, convey her to the Court House for trial, and if convicted convey her to the prison.  A short time ago the Inspector of Policewomen in one of H.M.  Factories was instructed by the authorities to send a Policewoman to a distant town to fetch a woman prisoner, an old offender.  The Policewoman was armed with a warrant, railway vouchers and handcuffs.  The prisoner was handed over to the Policewoman by the Policeman, and the Policewoman and her charge returned without trouble.  The prisoner expressed her relief and gratitude at being escorted by a Policewoman, and behaved well throughout the journey.  The Policewoman reported that she was given every courtesy and assistance by both police and railway officials.

[Illustration:  POLICE WOMEN]

“We believe this constitutes the first time in history that women guards have been entrusted with the care and custody of their fellow-women when charged with breaking the law.”

Other pieces of important and difficult work have been undertaken by women.

There have been, unfortunately, cases in which the soldier’s wife, left at home, has behaved badly and been unfaithful.  Men often write from the trenches to the Chief Constable to ask if charges made to them in letters about their wives are true.  Naturally the Chief Constable asks the women to investigate these charges.  Sometimes the charges are quite unfounded, simply spiteful and malicious and the woman and Chief Constable write and say so.

In other cases the husband knows of unfaithfulness and writes to the Army Pay Office asking to have the allowance stopped to his wife.  The Army Pay Office never acts on any such letter without securing a report from the Chief Constable, and again the woman is needed, and there is frequently the question of the children as well.  Their allowance, of course, never ceases but they may go to some relative or be disposed of in some way.

These cases are infinitesimal in number.

After the outbreak of the war there were many scares.  Every one in our country knows now how a myth is established.  We have left the stage behind where people told you they knew, from a friend, who knew a friend who knew some one else who saw it, who was in the War Office, etc., etc., etc.—­that England was invaded—­that the Navy was all down—­or the German Navy was all down—­that we were going to do this, that, or the other impossible thing.

Dame Rumour had a joyous time in the early days of the war and we suffered from the people who were not only quite certain that everything was wrong morally, but told us that the illegitimate birth rate was going to be enormous.  Their accusations against our ordinary girls were monstrous.  There was some excitement and foolishness, but anybody who was really working and dealing with it as the Patrol were, knew the accusations were ridiculous.  The illegitimate birth rate of our country is lower than before, which is the best reply to, and the vindication of the men of our armies and our girls against, these absurd attacks.