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PHILANTHROPY

EDITED BT

FRANCES A. GOODALE

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERSMDCCCXCIII

Copyright, 1893, by Harpbr k Brothbbs.

AB riffkt* rtMfvtd,

CONTENTS.

e

1

GENERAL INTRODUCTION vil

Bt Mrs. Blanchk Wilder Bbllamt.

THE LITERATURE OF PHILANTHROPY ... 1Bt Mrs. Frances A. Goodali.


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CRIMINAL REFORM 9

Bt Mrs. C. R. Lowell (Josephine Shaw Lowell).

TENEMENT NEIGHBORHOOD IDEA. First Paper 23Bt Mrs. Jeam Fink Spahr and Miss Fannie W. McLean.

TENEMENT NEIGHBORHOOD IDEA UNIVER-SITY SETTLEMENT. Second Paper .... 35Bt Miss Helen Moore.

TENEMENT NEIGHBORHOOD IDEA MEDICALWOMEN IN TENEMENTS. Third Paper . . 48Bt Dr. Mart B. Damon.

THE TRAINED NURSE 65

Bt Miss Aones L. Brrnnan.

THE SOCIETY OF THE RED CROSS . . . . 7TBt Mr& Laura M. Doolittlb.

THE INDIAN. First Paper 116

Bt Mrs. Amelia Stone Quinton.

vi

THE INDIAN A WOMAN AMONG THE IND- ^"^

lANa Second Paper 12

By Mbs. Elains Goooalb Eastmak.

THE ANTISIiAVERY STRUGGLE 14L

Extracts from Various Writers.

THE ANTISLAVERY LEGACY UT

Bt Mrs. Maud Wilder Goodwin.From the "Jttputor Science Monthly. ''

THE NEGRO AND CIVILIZATION 161

Bt Mrs. Julia Margaret Fuller Llotd.Fr


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THE EDUCATION OF THE BLIND 170

Bt Mrs. Frbdsrigk Rhinelakobr Jones.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION.

The series of collections, of which this volumeis a part, is made up of representative work ofthe women of the State of New York in period-ical literature.

This literature has been classified under itsconspicuous divisions Poetry, Fiction, History,Art, Biography, Translation, Literary Criticism,and the like.

A woman of eminent success in each depart-ment has then been asked to make a collectionof representative work in that department; toinclude in it an example of her own work, andto place her name upon the volume as itsEditor.

These selections have been made, as far aspossible, chronologically, beginning with theearliest work of the century, in order thatthe volumes may carry out the plan of the

vm

** Exhibit of Women's Work in Literature inthe State of New York," of which they arean original part.

The aim of this Exhibit was to make a rec-ord of literary work, limited, through necessity,

both by sex and locality, but, as far as possi-ble, accurate and complete, and to preserve thisrecord in the State Library in the Capitol at

Albany.


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It includes twenty-five hundred books, begin-ning with the works of Charlotte Ramsay Lennox,the first>bom female author of the province of

New York, published in London in 1759, closingwith the pages of a translation of Herder, still

wet from the press, and comprising the works ofalmost every author in the intervening one hun-dred and forty years.

It includes also three hundred papers read be-fore the literary clubs of the State, a summanof the work of all writers for the press, and thfolios which preserve the work of many ab?women who have not published books.

The women of the State of New York ha

had the honor of decorating and furnishing iLibrary of the Women's Building. Believ

ix

the best equipment of a library to be literature,they have therefore prepared this Exhibit ; andhave made its character comprehensive and his-toric, in order that it may not be temporary, butthat it may be preserved in the State Library,and may have permanent value for future loversand students of Americana.

Blanche Wilder Bellamt,Chairman of the Committee on Literatureof the Board of Women Managers of theState of New York.

THE UTERATUKE OFPHILANTHROPY

THE LTTEEATURE OF PHILAN-THROPY.

BY FRANCES A. GOODALE.


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The written record of philauthropic move-meDts, individual or collective, crude orsystematic) is its unit of value in guiding orin warning fresh philanthropic impulses andnew undertakings. He who would choose,

if circumstances have not chosen for him,that which, among the different lines ofgood work, he can do and ought to do, mayfind in printed record a glorious list of man'shumanities to man, all crying: Come overand help us ! For although humane impulsehe instinctive, as ancient as human society,although tenderness for the sufferer togetherwith yearning pain over the sinner followedhard upon the loss of innocence, yet onlyLiterature has preserved the story. She

chronicles mistakes, warns of pitfalls, andnotes what methods have hrought hlessing.

Literature has done more than compi-lation-service. She has hrought Pbilan-1

thropy oat of the chaos of occasioual andofteu misdirected pity into organic struc-ture, with regulating mechanism and obedi-ent members, with nerves quick to receivesensations of comfort or distress, and othernerves that transmit the message to govern-ing brain-bureau. Literature has broughtPhilanthropy from the inorganic to the or-ganic, from the letter which kills to thelaw which gives life. Nature has no mercyupon foolish good intentions, and never in-terposes to prevent their harvest of harm.

It is Nature's inexorable law that undis-ciplined Charity shall not bless; that un-wise Love shall never be beneficent; thatWisdom is born of Experience. Now ex-

perience recorded is Literature ; and it iswritten that Philanthropy cannot be di-vorced from Education nor from Religion.The three are one. They are under one law,they serve one master, they bring one gos-

pel. All aim to deliver men from the shack-les of sense by the victory of the spirit ; all

recognize the equal need of reasoning mindand feeling heart in their work of extirpat-


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ing sin and bringing redemption.

Ours is a period of seething and struggle.From all trades and professions, from societyeven from the children one hears complai'

of the complexities and the over-demandsof life. Life's complexity has increased inthe slums, in the jails, and hospitals com-

plexity of nervous system, of temptationsand of suffering there, as among the happierclasses. In order to meet these harder con-ditions, to divert movements which threat-en revolution and retrogression, in order to

built up noble national character upon theonly sure basis, that of noble individualcharacter, partition of interests between richand poor must be broken down. Both mustsincerely recognize the eternal reciprocityof joy and sorrow, of loss and gain ; theremust seem to be and there must he, alike for

both, one law, one country, one patriotism.

It is this characteristic of federation ofinterests and personal intercourse, this qual-ity of identification, which underlies theTenement Neighborhood idea. It differsfrom other lines of philanthropic work inthis, that it seems almost beyond possibilityto take it out of private and individualhands, and to organize and direct it system-atically, without loss of the human-brother-hood motive and prejudice to the individu-ality and the self-respect of the poor. Slavesand Indians were under such manifestly pe-

culiar conditions that it did them no harm

to treat tbeir wrongs en hlocy erecting reliefand reform into a system. Criminals, too,to a certain degree, may be treated as aclass apart, put there by tbeir own acts, anda science of Criminology become thereby

practicable. But with the poor it is diflfer-ent. Want and bodily ailment are not the

worst evils encountered in the tenement, butindividual ambition paralyzed, conscience


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calloused, self-respect lost. These are symp-toms of degeneracy and moral death of theindividual; they present desperate menaceto the State, and call for treatment at onceresolute, tender, and silent. Three agencies

of reform represent the most profound hopesof this nineteenth century. They are, first,the monition of the t^rucified One, exempli-fied by himself to the uttermost : Love thyneighbor as thyself. Second, the physio-logical regimen of cleanliness and sunshine,enforced by such opinion as that of the emi-nent English physician, Alfred Carpenter,who said of the worst born specimens ofchildren in a great Reform School, "Theyseem to teach us that not even one genera-

tion of change is required to wipe out ageneration of defects when personal healthis well looked after." The third remedialagency is the Manual Training School, bring-

5

iug interests into the children's lives, who"learn by doing."

The accompanying papers in this volumepresent a brief summing-np of work alreadydone, change effected, ends not yet com-

passed, and further help needed ; the presentstatistics, in short, of the more prominentamong the many enterprises organized " to

bear Our Father's message to the largest

household on earth, the household of afflic-tion." They are presented by women whohave thought as well as worked. The storiesare variations of one great theme : the in-variable, close interdependence and insepa-rable interests of the different members of theBody Social.

How Literature moves the world to Phi-lanthropy let the jail -delivery wrought byCharles Dickens tell ; the moans of prison-

ers that died unheard until Charles Readebecame their mouth-piece ; the piteous plight


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of the Red Men fallen among thieves, untilgood literature and bad, Helen Hunt andCongressional records of proposed legisla-tive iniquity, alike summoned a protestingcorps of good Samaritans. Let the search-

light witness flashed upon slavery's horrorsby Harriet Beecher Stowe ; the dormantpatriotism fired by Hosea Biglow ; the voi-

cing by Julia Ward Howe, in the glorious** Battle Hymu of the Republic," of a nation'sspontaneous consecration to the cause ofrighteousness these all attest specific de-liverauces wrought when Pbilanthroi>y and

Literature worked hand iu baud.

Wbat inspiration to courage and to zeal-ous work, what rebuke to despondency liesin the record of the Society for the Aboli-tion of Human Slavery, now closed iu honorand success, with "Fiuis" stamped upon itsseal ! No enterprise would seem to be morehopeless and thankless, more opprobriouseven than was this at its inception. Andtill the very end its counsels were weak-ened, its work was hindered by enormousdivergences of opinion among its sincerestfriends. It was a long step from the uncon-ditional abolitionist to the gradual emanci-

pationist wbo would abolish the admittedevil, but by xu'ocess of law and time andmoney- compensation for "property" alien-ated.

But even this wide area of sentiment did

not include all the educated, the virtuous,the church-membersliip. There were North-ern pulpits that thundered divine sanctionof slave-holdiug; Northern legislators whomade criminal and Northern judges who en-

forced pnnishmeut not only of tbose wboabetted fugitive slaves, but of tbose who

passively refrained from seizing or bunting

them ; while thousands upon thousands shuttheir eyes and their hearts and tried to feel


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it no concern of theirs, and thought tbe agi-tators ill-bred and pestilent folk who causedas much unpleasantness as did slavery it-self. Northern friendships were brokenand Northern homes rendered more unhappy

than were Southern when pioneers were firstcalled for, and the movement furnished onemore verification of the truth of Cbrist'swords, that he came to bring not peace buta sword.

Yet on her eightieth birthday, a few dayssince, one of the few surviving women activeamong the giant moral forces and heroicin anti-slavery warfare, writes to another,her octogenarian comrade : " What memories

are ours ! Disabled as I am I look acrossthose memorable thirty-five years, and theold scenes and faces come thronging aroundme. I hear the old familiar voices, feel thehand-clasp of the rescued slave, and thrillwith the ' rapture of the strife!'"

That rapture was fearful, and very costly.In our heritage of its splendid peace andharmony we must not permit its terrible

8

records to grow mouldy nor be lost. Joop-iials and magazines were depositories of factsand commentaries of permanent valae. Peri-odical literataroy now as then, mirrors faith-

fully the passing shadow of the age. Itmoulds it, too, for better, for worse.

Well if they who handle the serioas themeof philanthropy qualify themselves for theresponsibility by clean hearts and right nn-derstandings. For although this periodicalliterature is styled " ephemeral," some of itshall ouMive the stately and treasured book,as the tiny figurine of clay and the tear-bot-tles of glass have survived temples and pal-

aces, aud, like the butterfly, these ephemeramay actually stand as the symbol of im-


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mortality.

CRIMINAL REFORM.

BY MRS. C. R. LOWELL (Josephine Shaw liOwell).

The topic for my paper, exclnding thewide field of private charity and the dutyof individual to individual, is the duty of thecommunity, as a corporate body, to that partof itself which has been well called " the

perishing and dangerous classes/^ As thefirst step in the consideration of the subject,some conclusion must be established iu re-

gard to the end which any system of publiccharities and correction, as distinguishedfrom private charity, is intended to serve,and the meaning of a good or bad systemmust be defined. My own opinion is thatthe only justification for the expenditure of

public money is the public good that is, thegood of the whole mass of the people. Nogovernment is authorized to levy taxes onone part of the community for the benefitof another part ; the honest working por-tion of the people should not be deprivedagainst their will of their hard-earned money

10

for the caro of that portion which is shift-

less, incompetent, and vicious, unless, in theend, the result is to be for the advantage ofthe tax-payers themselves.

To me the word " charity," as used todesignate public money paid out for the sup-

port of paupers, is a misnomer, and doesmuch harm by causing confusion in theminds of officials and tax-payers. Charityis an act of kindness from one individual toanother ; there is no charity in the payment

of taxes, nor is the official who expends themoney raised by taxation performing an act


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of charity, " He is simply administering apublic trust."

Thus any system of caring for criminalswhich does not seek to lessen the burdens

of the people by diminishing crime is defi-cient in the first requisite of a good system ;and any system which encourages crimeand pauperism is far worse than none, andshould be destroyed to make way for some-thing better.

To seize upon the earnings of hard-workedmen and women, and with those earnings tomaintain with jmblic money prisons whichare actually schools of vice and crime are

acts which do no credit to a civilized com-munity, and yet I fear they are acts of which,

11

in a greater or less degree, every comrannityin this conn try is guilty to-day.

The whole feeling in regard to what isusually called " charity " must be changed

before we cau have a really good system ofpublic care for paupers and criminals. It isgenerally accounted creditable when a com-munity spends a great deal of money for" charity " and has many " charitable insti-tutions." This arises from the preconceivedidea that iu every community there is and

must be a given amount of poverty anddisease, and that to relieve the sufferingsconsequent upon these afQictions is a Chris-tian duty. We seldom reflect that it is ahigher and far more difficult Christian dutyto prevent this poverty and disease, or thatto have allowed a large proportion of the

population to become poor, sick, insane, andcriminal was a grievous neglect of duty.Every hospital is a proof that sanitary meas-ures have been ignored ; every poor-house

and asylum is a proof that a part of thepeople have not beeu educated to industry


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ing the examination of that claim. In NewYork City the custom lias, most unfortu-nately, grown up of requiring that judgesshall commit children to private institutions,as a necessary condition of obtaining pay-

ment from the city for their support. Thisundoubtedly is a dangerous proceeding, sincethe familiarization with a conrt of law tendsto destroy the dread of arrest, which should

be fostered as one of the strongest deter-rent influences against crime. To bring achild before a judge in a criminal court inorder to secure his entrance into an institu-tion of charity is a most unwise measure.If children whose parents are living are

placed in institutions, there should be a con-

stant pressure brought to bear on the par-ents to contribute towards their support,and as soon as they are able, they should berequired to take them back, or if unable orunfit to do this after a given number of

15

years, they should forfeit all claim to them.Besides these duties in regard to childrenwho are fit subjects for public support, theDepartment for the Care of Children shouldhave the control and management of In-dustrial Day Schools, and attendance should

be made compulsory on all vagrant andtruant children. By such means the De-

partment for the Care of Children would be

a potent factor in the work of diminishingcrime.

II. The Department for the Care of Pub-lic Dependents should have charge of the

public hospital, insane asylum, almshouse,and workhouse, the last to receive only

persons committed as destitute. There aretwo means of reducing pauperism : First,

by preventing accessions to the ranks ofpaupers from without, which can be accom-

plished by rendering pauperism unattractive,and by the general enlightenment of the


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people; and, second, by restoring individualpaupers to manhood and independence. TheDepartment can make use of both thesemethods, by the adoption of judicious disci-

pliue within the institutions, and by refusing

to give relief outside of institutions. Theaim being to cure the individual, whether ofsickness, insanity, intemperance, or simply

16

of the tendency to be shiftless and lazy, the

same system should be enforced in all thevarious buildiugs under the charge of theDepartment. To train the mental and moralnature should be the first object.

III. The Department for the Reduction ofCrime would have, as its name imports, awide field of labor, and I have chosen thisname for it in order that every one, insideof it and outside of it, may fully recognizewhat is the main end of its creation, andthat the care of criminals and the super-vision of prisons may be put in their propersubordinate places, as one means only of ac-complishing the real work of the depart-ment. I would place under the charge of this

branch of the city government not only thereformatory institutions in the city (includ-ing those for juvenile offenders), but thestation-houses and police force, which lattershould be its agents to prevent as well as

to detect crime, to protect the weak whocannot resist temptation unaided, to watchhabitual criminals when at large, and toguard those undergoing sentence.

If it were possible it would, I am sure, bewell that the judges should in some way beconnected with this department, and, in anyevent, the management of the courts should

17


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bo a part of its bnsioess. It seems to methat the barm done by our courts, as at

present governed, is not at all recognized.Tbe publicity to which all persons on trialare exposed is in itself a serious evil, espe-cially in the case of children and youngwomen, breaking down and destroying allnatural modesty and making them in verydeed " brazen faced," while it also fostersthe love of notoriety which is so common inweak natures as to be a strong incentive tocrime among a certain class. I am sure thatat least tlie trials of women and children

should be conducted in comparative privacy,only certain persons being allowed to be

present. We have passed the time whenwe need a public trial to insure justice forthe accused.

There is no doubt also that the station-houses are, in many cities, places of con-tamination and degradation. There should

be special buildings for the temporary im-prisonment of women, and women -officersshould be employed to guard them ; andhere, as well as in conveying prisoners toand from the reformatories, they should

be protected from contamination by everyknown means. I speak only of reforma-tories, for there should be no prison or peni-2

18

tentiary which is not a reformatory; andhere I believe that the State of New Yorkcan furnish, in the institution at Elmira, anexample for other States and cities to follow.The right principle has been adopted andcarried out in this reformatory ; the prisonersare sentenced practically for an indetermi-

nate period, and the managers may, at theirdiscretion, send them out on probation, or


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finally discharge them. Here we have theonly rational means of dealing with offend-ers against the law. It is a truism to statethat the very same crime may be committedeither by a comparatively innocent man,

who, it is morally certain, will never trans-gress again, or by a man who is a standingmenace to society ; but notwithstanding thisfact, the law now requires that the firstman shall pay very much the same penaltyas the second, whereas were these two men

both simply committed to the charge of theDepartment for the Keduction of Crime,that department, after a short test, woulddischarge the repentant and humbled citi-zen, sure that the terror of crime itself would

in the future save him from any furtheroffence ; while the hardened criminal would

be placed under such teaching as would savehim, too, from future trangression of the

19

law, even if a discipline of ten or twentyyears were required to insure that end. Ifthe object be, as it should, to protect society,why should not au irresponsible criminal betreated as au irresponsible insane patient isdealt with, the superintendent in charge ofeach deciding when he may safely be trustedat large f With proper regulations and effi-cient supervision by the police to save themfrom their own weakness, a large number of

criminals who are now shut up iu demoraliz-ing idleness and vile companionship mightbe safely allowed at liberty; thus savingthem from debasing influences, and the Statefrom the necessity of supporting them. Butthere is a smaller number, now periodicallyturned loose to prey upon their fellows, whoare as dangerous as any madman, and whoought always to be kept under control.Thus our folly is apparent iu both direc-tions : we keep masses of men shut up who

are quite capable of being useful and valu-able members of society, while we constant-


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ly unchain wild beasts, knowing them to bosuch, waiting for some overt act before wedare to lay our hands upon them again.

Under the rule of the Department for the

Reduction of Crime the number of criminalsimprisoned would surely be greatly dimin-

islied, and the training of all actually in r^straint wonld be sncli as to teach them tlxlessons they failed to learn from the iuflt-|ences of a natural life; while those wb


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etc., but for the last three months the aver-age has been 131." Of conrse we must notconsider this a permanent lowering, but onlya pleasant omen." With reference to thecauses to which Mr. Baker ascribes the dim-

inution in crime I quote from his answerto the inquiries made by a French society :** Our number in prison has diminished, not-withstanding increase of population, and Ihave no doubt that a considerable portion ofthis decrease should be attributed to the factof the establishment of a police endeavor-ing still more to prevent than to detectcrime, of reformatories *for juveniles, and theadoption of cumulative punishment for theheavier class of crimes (we have not yet ob-

tained the power of thus dealing with minoroffences). I hold strongly that our greatobject is not that of having the most per-fectly planned and ordered gaols ; our ob-

ject is the reduction of crime to the greatestdegree that we can effect. Gaols and prisonsare one means to that end, but only onemeans, and, so far as my experience goes, notthe most efficacious, nor the least objection-able."

22

I wjU add that I believe the pareots ofevery juvenile offeuder, and the property, ifthere be any, belonging to every criminal,should be liable for the cost of supporting

such juvenile offender and ciimiual inprison.

I have not been writing of " Charity," ofthe duty of each one of us to succor and up-hold our weaker fellows, and to give of ourabundance, time, thought, work, and life tolessen their misery, but of the question howany community may best protect itself fromthe ravages made upon its resources by

pauperism and crime. My views in regard

to the two fields of work are entirely dis-tinct. My view is that public systems of re-


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The value of such helpfulness and friend-liness no one can doubt who has seen theeagerness of the children to be admitted to95 Rivingtou Street, and their delight in the

friendship and sympathy of its residents.Nor is the interest and responsiveness con-fined to the boys and girls, though it is withthem that the work of the Settlement chief-ly lies. Many a tired and troubled mothertells of her satisfaction in knowing that her

boy is at " the Club," and application issometimes made for all other members ofthe family to be received into clubs, "tokeep them off the street."

It was not the original intention to doanything for boys, but their demand for at-teution was so great that one club after an-other was formed for them. The last onewas organized when some boys, alreadyformed into a " pleasure club " in one of theroughest streets of the region, begged for an

25

eveniug, saying, "We'll change, and haveyour kind of a club."

The aim of club work is to give practicalinstruction and wholesome amusement, andto enlarge the range of interest. The girlsare taught cooking, sewing, and dress-mak-

ing. The little ones have " kitchen-garden "work, and their mothers report that thechildren set the table "as they learn atclub." The older girls listen to talks onHygiene, Dress, and other practical matters,as well as on historical and scientific sub-

jects. Instruction in gymnastics is given toall, and singing is one of the most popularfeatures of the clubs. The afternoon or even-ing generally closes with games or amuse-ment of some sort.

In the boys* clubs singing and gymnas-


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27

time is not over 400. More tbaa 10,000books have been issued since last November.Tbe boys clamor for bistory, and read sciencewben put in a popular form ; tbe girls readchiefly fiction. Care is taken to overlooktbe reading of each individual; for thoseTvbo are in tbe work feel that they wield nomore potent influence in forming tbe idealsof tbe boys and girls than tbrougb the read-ing which is given them. On one evening

in the week tbe young people are admittedto get books from the library and to spendthe evening in playing games. The PennyProvident Bank, under the auspices of tbeCharity Organization Society, is an educa-tion in saving money.

One of the theories of the work in its be-ginning was that the residents should workin existing institutions that they shouldstrengthen work already started. This ideahas been carried out by giving assistance inthe Neighborhood Guild, in the Girls' Friend-ly Society, Sewing School, and SabbathSchools of the neighborhood.

The Settlement has been fortunate in hav-ing a physician as resident. She has openedup a large field of work the work which theSettlement cares most to do helping onesick neighbor, befriending another in trouble.

28

finding work for a third, whose illness hastaken away a former means of support. Itis often through the physician that cases areknown where it is possible to make connec-

tion between one who needs help and a per-son or an organization ready to give it.


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The bath-rooms in the basement, wherebaths are sold for ten cents each, are patron-ized to an nnexpected extent. Women oftencome several miles for the privilege offered.

The yard in summer is fitted np withswings and a pile of sand, and on Saturdays

boys and girls are admitted. Daring thesummer, also, an ice-water fountain attachedto the fence has been in constant use a

powerful rival, apparently, of the saloons.

That which is the peculiar feature of theSettlement, as has been often said, is that itis simply a home, where those who wish may

go and live for the sake of becoming thefriends of those about them. The informalrelations between the Settlement and itsneighbors are a basis for much friendly in-tercourse, but no report can give satisfac-tory account of work done during every day

by every resident. We know that our neigh-bors consider us their honest friends. Theybelieve that we care for them personally that we are interested in their individual

29

joys and sorrows, and share our own withthem. Our out-stretched hands have met inthe warm clasp of friendship, and we nolonger realize that there is supposed to be a

gulf between the different classes of society.No lines are drawn ; all are friends alike the poorest and the most well-to-do, the re-cent immigrant and the New Yorker of manygenerations, the Jew and the Gentile.

One of the most hopeful signs is that wehave been able to give the charge of theclubs more and more into the hands of themembers themselves. The ownership oftheir clubs, and consequently their pride in

them, has created a pride in their own be-havior. Interest in the well-being of their


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clubs has made better boys and girls ofthem, and they in turn have improved theclubs. The "P. O. C.'s," the club of old-est boys, have been doing some good andearnest work. They are studying civil gov-

ernment, and have had up for discussion atthe meetings various of the bills that havecome before the New York Legislature dur-ing the year. These older boys are ourhelpful assistants in many little ways. Theycontinue to feel the sense of responsibilitythat priority of years gives thena, and areinterested in maintaining a good standard

30

of behavior at the Settlement. The CboralClub has been satisfactory. It is under thecharge of a thorough musician; the boyshave become engaged in the real work oflearning to read music and how to use thevoice. Thus the club has an educationalvalue.

One of the bright successes is the women'sclub, called the Home Improvement Club.Most of its members are the mothers of theclub children, and the fact that both moth-ers and children have this interest in theSettlement makes the bond with us a familyone. The mothers' weekly meetings, withanimated discussions on practical subjects,the friendly chat over a cup of coffee, and

the little musicale afterwards, have becomea social event at the Settlement. The Pen-ny Provident Bank, with an enrolment ofabout five hundred depositors, receives eachevening from fifty to seveuty-five, the sin-gle deposits varying from a penny to twodollars. The Library membership cannotincrease if we continue the plan of allowingthe members to remain in the house to playgames after the exchange of books. This

plan has seemed desirable, as this is the only

opportunity we have of meeting sociallywith some of the boys and girls, and thus


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37

in the gatter and the smell of stale beerfrom the uine saloons in tlie block. Theonly country sport they know is kite-flying,

but their run is on the roof of one of thetall tenements.

The residents of tliis ward are chiefly Ger-mans, Poles, Russian Jews, and Bolieniians.Where they lead, the sweat-shops follow, and

scores of men, women, and children sew allday in rooms that are the only living-room,

bedroom, and kitchen for a large family. Awalk through the street during any day ofsummer's fierce heat discloses a long pano-rama of heart-rending sights. Every win-dow opens into a room crowded with scant-ily - clothed, dull - faced men and womensewing upon heavy woollen coats and trou"*sers. They pant for air, the perspirationthat drops from their foreheads is like life-

blood, but they toil on steadily, wearily, ex-cept when now and again one, crazed byheat, hangs himself to a door -jamb, or

jumps from a top -story window. It iscalled by the police the " Suicide Ward."The violent excitement furnished by dance-halls and gambling-dens does not counter-act the temporary frenzy produced by hotweather and over-long hours of work. Froma political, sanitary, and educational point

38

of view it is the worst ward in the city, andsocial statistics offer no parallel in any city.It is twice as crowded as the densest partof London, our census of 1890 showing 522

human beings to the acre, and to the ward57,514. The people, ignorant of the form of


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our government and of the obligations offranchise, alienated by our unknown lan-guage, distrustful of the motives and meas-ures of up-town men who have never by

personal acquaintance gained their personal

confidence, give unquestioning allegianceto a few prominent, ambitious men adroitenough to appreciate and to secure theirfealty. A striking example is " Silver Dol-lar " Charles Smith, so - called from silverdollars inlaid in the floor of his saloon, whohas become a local potentate by many actsof kindness, gifts of money, and coals, andasks from his beneficiary subjects in returnonly their votes. Of course municipal

prominence becomes synonymous with bri-

bery, corruption, and irresponsibility, andits second name is the Crooked Ward. Itanswers to still another, the Typhus Wai'd.Filth stalks through the streets, and armiesof vermin and pestiferous insects live, move,and have shelter and feeding - ground in-doors and out. The precociously -intelligent

39

Semitic children go to school, when notcrowded out hy lack of room, until tlie ageof twelve or thirteen j'cars. Then, in spiteof the law that forhids employment of chil-dren under sixteen in factories, they taketheir places there as wage-earners.

The people are gregarious, but not social.The race-prejudice between Jew and Gen-tile is strong. These were the elementswith which the Guild found itself confront-ed; forces and antagonisms to utilize andharmonize ; conditions of life to improve.Based on the Family idea as the fundament-al unit of society, the ideal of the Guild isto unite neighbors as members of a familyare united, irrespective of race, religion, oroccupation, in bonds of mutual service, tow-

ards a common end of mutual improvement.This idea differs from that of Toyubee


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and we think will nobly justify its exist-ence and its cost. It appears not as theoutcome of one mind or the developmentof a single, unvarying idea. It is instead acongeries of experiments expressing the in-

dividuality or the idiosyncrasies even ofsuccessive directors and workei-s. It has

been a powerful instrument of reform in

44

tlie neigliborliood. Under the direction oi-

Mr. Charles Stover, a leader of fearless andunconipromising disposition, it called theattention of the authorities to gainbliug

places in the vicinity, to tenements out ofrepair, to streets in filthy condition. Ithad debated on politics ; the members ofthe O. I. F. Clnb joined the People's Mnnic-ipal League, and worked with great intel-ligence at the polls. It issued a newspaperonce a month, which voiced in impassionedand intrepid language its editor's hatredof wrong, hypocrisy, and fraud. The EastSide Art League was formed, and succeededin opening the Museum on Sunday. The

petitions distributed and the work done inthis cause show what an immense influ-ence for reform may be exerted by a fewearnest workers. Many times the Guildwas near financial ruin, but indomitableenergy saved it. The principle of up-townhelp as a temporary crutch was inculcated

with all the strength of a conviction whichafterwards made Mr. Stover leave the Guildwhen he thought the integrity of the prin-ciple was violated. One result of devotionto the virtue of honest poverty and sturdyindependence was an outward unlovelinesswhich made the rooms a mere social work-

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In any severe or long case of illness, thewhole tenement-house, often a lively com-

munity of twenty families, takes an interest.The neighbor comes in to interpret for thedoctor, sometimes to advise her as to diag-nosis and remedies, for wbich friendlinessthe doctor is as grateful as the ordinary re-cipient of such cliarity. But in spite of thereverse side of gossip and liorror-mongering,generosity and friendliness are commonlythe feelings of the neighbors towards thosewho are ill. They will go to the Dispen-sary for medicine, or to the Diet-kitchen for

milk, if there is no one in the family to doso, or assist the child, who may be the onlynurse, in giving the medicine ; and I haveknown the "lady down-stairs" to send upregularly part of her own meals to the fam-ily whose mother was ill and father out ofwork.

The devotion of the family to the sickmember is often touching. If the motheris ill, the husband and sons who are at workall day divide the night between them, thatmedicine and food may be regularly given;or perhaps it is a boy of twelve who is thefaithful nurse, because the father is a care-less drunkard. I have known a bov of four-teen to do all the washing of the family. If

63

there is a daughter of any size all these du-ties naturally fall to her, and she standsfaithfully to her responsibilities.

If the baby is sick the older children arequiet, attentive, and loving in their awk-ward way, and the overburdened mother,untrained and often utterly without appli-

ances, is yet, to the extent of her ability, adevoted nurse. The assistance of a trained


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expressed. One of the most grateful ofmothers expressed hers by the deprecatorywords repeated over and over again, "It'stoo mucli trouble." Sometimes it is the doc-tor wlio is ungrateful for intended but ill-

advised cousiderateuess which adds too fullyto her auxiety and care. A hasty call ca^ue

57

in the early moruing to a lying-in case. Inthe so-called furnished room was nothing

but the absolutely essential not a sheet nortowel, not a clean rag nor a piece of news-

paper, no basiii nor bowl, no drop of warmwater nor receptacle in which to heat it;and, most remarkable of all, not a friendlyneighbor among the twenty families to aidin this emergency. A single tumbler suf-ficed to wash the patient and the doctor'shands, to give milk and medicine. Motherand child lay together helpless on the floor.But the man, kneeling down, murmured lowa word of reniorse and love, kissed his wife,and was forgiven; for the finer feelings dosurvive poverty, improvidence, and wrong.It was long before the doctor appreciatedthat such extremity was reached throughunwillingness to disturb her night's rest.

I like to have the housewife who, I know,has not a penny, say boldly at the end ofthe first visit, " What do I owe you, doctor ?"

It gives me a chance to make my gift ofservice gracious, and puts both on a level,where we can look each other in the face. Itis the spirit which is of value, and a simple"Thank you, doctor," with the right inflec-tion, can be the sweetest words of all thelanguages; or, "You have done everything.

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ing tbe thin, pule faces come back to tbecity with new color and fresh ideas. Tbecolor dies out only too soon, but tbe ideasstay, and a better way of influencing thelife of tbe city could hardly be devised than

this summer migration, short though It be.

There are three urgent needs of the pres-ent time which the community might sup-

ply First, public bath-houses, which wouldreduce largely the amouut and severity ofcertain kinds of disease Many a person isout of work for weeks because the skin is sodirty that an insignificant injury gives riseto severe ulcer or poisoned wound. If, ascommonly happens, the person is in poor

general condition, a permanently stiff jointmay be the result. And to be thrown outof work often means starvation. Often, foradults who are at home only when the wholefamily and all tbe boarders are tbere, pre-scribing baths is much the same thing as

prescribing a journey quite impracticable.

There is, secondly, the great need of placesaway from the city where patients in thefirst stages of consumption may be sent. Afew weeks or mouths of good air and properfood would in many cases avert the disease.

None of the hospitals in New York will take

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consiimptiyes, and tbe few Homes for Con-sumptives and Incurables are always full.

The tliird need is for nnrses who can staywith the families not alone the trainednurses of great skill. There are many casesof relatively mild illness in which a womanof ordinary intelligence can follow all direc-tions while doing the house- work also, dur-ing the mother's illness. It is not only thosewho are too poor to pay anything who need

such a helper, but there are families wliowould gladly pay a moderate sum for those


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the last and best triumphs of humanity, ofcivilization, of Christianity. They repre-sent and embody the new religion that har-monizes and unites all churches and allcreeds that God is best and most truly

served by serving our fellow-man, that re-ligion consists no longer of dogmas, but ofdoing good.

No one can read the early reports of thefirst Training-school in this country withoutrealizing what an immense influence and

power for good a few zealous and devotedwomen can command, and how surely theyenlist the sympathy and aid of others like-minded in many places. To the ladies of

the New York Visiting Committee for Belle-vue is due the reform in nursing in thiscountry.

The chief work of a Training-school must5

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be (lone by women, and among all tbe em-ployments which modern civilization is con-stantly throwing open to woman certainlynone is more worthy of her than that of aneducated and technically trained nurse. Asthere can be no man too gifted or too broadto adorn the ranks of the medical profession,so there can be no woman too gifted or too

tender to serve in the ranks of TrainedNurses.

Twenty years ago. May 1st, 1873, the firsteffort to provide better nurses for our sickwas made, and it met with many difficulties.One of the greatest was finding women ofeducation and refinement who were willingto go through the severe training considerednecessary to fit them to cope with all phasesof disease and with all dispositions.

It is sometimes forgotten that Florence


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Nightingale prepared herself for her greatwork of reform by ten long and patientyears of practical study. Her example has

been as effective as the result of her workhas been wonderful, and to-day in all the

Training-schools will be found educated andrefined women, studying and practising to

prepare themselves for the care of the sick.

This preparation, of what does it consist fThe catalogue of any good school will teU

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you that the course of training consists of" the proper way to make beds, change the

bedclothes and patient's clothes withoutwasting his strength, to make poultices, un-derstand blisters, and, in fact, to learn how todo everything for a sick person, be it man,woman, or child ; the study of Anatomy,Physiology, Materia Medica and Diseases,Ventilation and iDisinfection ; how to makeand to apply surgical dressings ; order,ueatuess, and cooking for the sick.''

Now one would think all this quite asmuch as could be crowded into a two years'course, but there is something else to learn,without which the education of the hand,eye, or ear will not make a successful nurse.It is the training of the individual charac-ter: to obey absolutely, to cultivate that in-

dispensable attribute," tact;" in fact, to learnhow to efface one's self. The majoiity ofwomen who enter a Training-school find this

part of the training far more difficult thauthe former, and it is the rock that manystumble against ; but without this training,however skilful the nurse may be iu thetechnical part of her profession, she is onlya mechanical one after all. But the twocombined give the ability to quiet restlessnerveS; to inspire unbounded confidence and


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operations, but the reason is they feel sosure that they will receive the same care,the same consideration, the same watchful-ness that is commanded by the rich in theirown homes."

4tli. District nurses.

When, in 1876, one of tbe graduates de-cided to work among the sick poor in theirown homes under the auspices of the CityMissions, the Managers rejoiced that theirwork had so soon begun to develop this

branch which had been an- object withthem from the beginning. This nurse soonfound her hands full, aud found also that

district nursing was very diiferent fromhospital nursing. Here her life is passedin going from street to street iu all weath-ers, up and down tenement - houses dark

71

aud pestiferous, teuding sometimes thevery poorest and most forlorn in the city.

From March, 1B76, to November, 1877,this unrse had made nine hundred andthirty-five visits and fifty dispensary calls.

Now what is meant by a visit ?

The nurse attends not only to the sickperson, but looks after the rest of the

household. If the mother is the patient,the nurse attends to the children. Theyhave to be washed and dressed, the dinnerhas to be cooked for them and the father,and the place cleaned up ; so that one visitmay mean two or oven three or four hours.

A successful district nurse must be a goodteacher, as she has to instruct her patientsin the management of their children j sheenlightens them on the importance and

harmlessness of bathing, shows them howto cook simple dishes, and the necessity of


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any more than she is a niachine.

It is not unusual to hear it said that '^ nopersonal relation exists between the nurseand her patient; it is just so much work

for so much monev." Nothing does morediscredit to the profession than this idea.Take away sentiment if yon like, but leavesympathy, for without it the nurse is nevera success.

Nearly all schools keep a " Registry " forthe benefit of their graduates, who find itof incalculable service, and the physician,as a rule, would rather get the nurse directfiom her school.

The number of private calls filled dur-ing 1892 by graduates of Bellevue alone was1366. This does not include the many thatcould not be filled.

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From this it can be seen that " TrainedNursing" as a lucrative employment is ab-solutely sure, and if the few noble womenwlio agitated this great reform in the nurs-ing of the sick could see but this oue resultof the trials and difficulties they wentthrough twenty years ago, they should besatisfied with the liundreds of educatedwomen they have been the means of

makiug independent women who would,without this professiou, be in many casesmore or less a burden on their friends, nowself-supporting, cheerful, and useful.

THE SOCIETY OF THE RED CROSS.

BY LAURA M. DOOLITTLE.

Though this Society has been in exist-ence in Europe for twenty-nine years, and


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overcrowding, were little better than densof death. And this monstrous condition ofthings ensued because Government hadfailed to provide an efficient sanitary serv-ice. The army had gone out with only a

half-supply of physicians, nurses, medicines,and hospital stores. The heart of Euglaudwas stirred to its depths, and Governmentwoke as if from a dream.

The story of the great system then inau-gurated and successfully carried out, of vol-untary civil care, supplementary to that ofthe military, of the sick and wounded intime of war is well known. The truth wasaccepted then and has not been disputed

Blnce, that the military power never did and6

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probably never could provide and keep in op-eration an adequate medical service througha long and severe campaign.

Lord Sydney Herbert, Minister of War,appalled like the rest by the awful distressin the Crimea, with great courage and res-olution against the weight deep almost aslife of ancient military precedent and prej-udice wrote Miss Florence Nightingale,then in charge of a hospital in London,

asking for help. A letter from her to theMinister begging permission to help was onits way at the same moment. A few dayslater she, with forty devoted women com-

panions, set out for the scene of war. Herewe have the beginning of a movementwhich has grown in comparatively fewyears to a system by which the miseriesof the soldiers in the field are reduced tothe lowest degree possible in the presentcondition of human knowledge. The his-

tory of Miss Nightingale and her three hun-dred companions in the Crimea for the


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nurses; in studying new inventions and dis-coveries in their line of work ; in keepingup close intercourse with each otlier, that allmight benefit by interchange of ideas; incollecting money and stores to be drawn

upon in case of need; and in everything, infact, which would tend to a mastery of sani-tary science and art. Efich central societywas to make one of its essential duties thesecuring of recognition by its Government,and the establishing of sympathetic rela-tions with it.

The President of the Swiss society, M.Gustav Mognier, chanced to be a man oflarge and liberal mind a philanthropist

who devoted all his time and large wejilthto its interests. He welcomed M. Dunant

86

warmly, and presented bim to the society.This body appointed a committee, the Gen-eral-in-Chief of the Swiss Confederation atits bead, to take charge of the movementand endeavor to interest other countries.An International Conference at Geneva inOctober, 1863, was tbe resnlt. Sixteen na-tions, inclnding all the great European pow-ers except Russia, were represented. TbisConference, under tbe autbority of theSupreme Federal Council of Switzerland,resolved to call an International Conven-

tion.

In response to tbis call a convention metat Geneva, August 8, 1864. It was numer-ously attended, and included twenty-fivemembers eminent in diplomatic or militaryservice, or m medical science All cameempowered by their Governments to makeand sign a treaty in accordance with Its ob-

jects if it should be by them deemed advis-able. Again sixteen nations were represent-

ed. Tbe deliberations occupied two weeks.A code of nine articles was adopted. Tbe


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needed. The State afforded free transport,and the voluntary contributions of the peo-

ple kept up the supplies of sanitary material,so that there was never any lack or dangerof failure. With the Government trans-

ports, whether by land or water, there wentalways the agents of the Red Cross, protect-ed by their badges and flag, to wait on theinvoices, hasten their progress, see to their

being kept in good order, and properly de-livered at their destination. Depots of sup-

plies were moved from place to place as ex-igencies demanded. The greatest care wastaken to prevent disorder or confusion, andthe best military circumspection and regu-larity prevailed. The great central depot at

Berlin comprised seven sections viz., cam^)material, clothing, dressing for wounds, sur-gical apparatus, medicines and disiufectants,food and tobacco, and hospital furnishings.Of their work of unparalleled activity', un-selfish devotion, and holy beneficence in allwars among all peoples, from their iustitn-

7

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tion to the preseut moment, there is neithertime nor space for me to speak."

The Red Cross of France was not in a con-dition of preparation at this time at all com-

parable with that of Germany. France,which has conferred npon the world somany of its greatest blessings " head of thehnman colnmn " in philanthropies as in oth-er greatest things followed other nationsat that time, and has since, in the greatmovement for alleviating the horrors of war.The preparations of the Red Cross had to bemade, to a considerable extent, after the con-flict was on ; but then with the utmost ar-dor France threw herself into the work.

Within a month a thorough system was setin motion. Committees perfectly equipped


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were at the stations as the tide of the man-gled and bleeding began to roll back nponthe capital. History has recorded the suf-ferings, the horrors, and misery which ac-companied the war of 1870, but history can

never relate what wretchedness was averted,what agonies alleviated, what multitudes oflives saved, by the presence and effort ofthose relief societies! What the state ofFrance must have been without the merci-fnl help of the, Red Cross, the imaginationdares not picture.

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The states of Europe at peace at that timewere also stirred to bonutiful liberality. Auoutline of the stupendous work of the soci-ety would be incomplete without an allu-sion to this feature. England alone con-tributed 7,500,000 francs, and within a fewmonths sent 12,000 boxes of sanitary sup-

plies to the agents of the society.

We come now to the events which led tothe formation of the American society. Andhere the explanation may be given whichhas doubtless been looked for quite cnrious-ly by readers of this paper that is, why anaccount of the Ked Cross Society should ap-

pear at all in a volume treating of Woman'sWork in Philanthropy ; for, so far as has yetaxipearcd, the work of that sociotj' has been

the work of men. Indeed, in the Old Worldall the societies are officered by men exceptthose of Germany and Baden. But ourAmerican society has for its president awoman. Miss Clara Barton, and about three-fourths of its entire personnel are women.

To understand the history of the RedCross in America we must first understandsomething of the history of Miss Barton.For with such quietness, such single-minded

devotion to duty alone, has her work beendone, that astonishing as it may be to


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the earth with sorrow and bereavement, andthe most responsible were formed into com-mittees charged with definite duties towardsthe homeless and distraught of the com-munity. Through them the wants of over

3000 families more than 20,000 persons were made known in writing to the RedCross, and by it supplied ; the white wag-ons with the red symbol fetching and car-rying for the stricken people. Barracks

Ill

were erected in which large numbers werehoased and fed ; then came the erection oftwo and four roomed dwellings, and the

people, set in families once more, beganto live, furniture being supplied by the so-ciety. A hospital was arranged warm,light, and comfortable. All these buildingswere, in the autumn, turned over to the cityfor use dnring the winter. Miss Barfconand her corps remained till the last of Oc-tober four months in the devastated,sorrow - stricken city. Among the mostmelting words ever written are those inthe Johnstown papers of that date in re-gard to the Red Cross Society and its deedsin that cit3^

The vital idea of the Red Cross is notcharity it scorns the word but friendli-ness, helpfulness. It is a privilege to do

for those in tronble ; they are neighbors inthe Good Samaritan sense : in a word, hu-man brotherhood is their creed, and nothingless than the trne law of love as given byJesus Christ their animating principle.

In March, 1893, the American Society re-ceived a long- desired and welcome gift.Dr. Joseph Gardner, of Bedford, Indiana,

presented to it a tract of land comprisingmore than one square mile, with buildings.


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112

fruit treeS; and all appurtenances of a fertileand beautiful farm. lu accepting this gift,Miss Barton says: "This land, as the prop-erty of the American National Red Cross,will be the one piece of neutral ground onthe Western hemisphere, protected by in-ternational treaty against the tread of hos-tile feet. It is a perpetual sanctuary againstinvading armies, and will be so respectedand held sacred by the military powers ofthe world. Forty nations are pledged to

hold all material and stores of the RedCross, and all its followers, neutral in war,and free to go and come as their dutiesrequire.

"While its business headquarters willremain as before at the capital of the Na-tion, the gift still forms a realization of thehopes so long cherished that the NationalRed Cross may have a place to accumulateand produce material and stores for suddenemergencies and great calamities ; and ifwar should come upon our land, which mayGod avert, we mfiy be able to fulfil themission that our adhesion to the Genevatreaty has made binding upon us.

" I will direct that monuments be erecteddefining the boundaries of this domain,dedicated to eternal peace and humanity.

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npon which shall be inscribed the insigniaof the treaty of Geneva, which insignia allthe nations of the earth are boand by sol-emn covenant to respect.

"Not only onr people, but the peoples ofall civilized nations will have published to


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OP THE women's national INDIAN ASSOCIATION.

Op the many reasons which inspired theformation of the Women's National Indian

Association the most cogent wore that itwas not in law a crime to kill an Indian,and that he had no rights which the whiteman was bound to respect. He was stillsubject to enforced removals from his ownland ; he was constantly robbed ; the UnitedStates Indian agent had despotic power overhim, and could suspend all trade on the res-ervation, could suspend the chief, and driveoff or arrest all visitors whose presence hemight not approve or desire. The Indian

could not make contracts ; he could not him-self sell anything he could raise or manu-facture, except to the trader appointed byGovernment ; he had no legal title or inter-est in the annual productions of the soil ,* hewas banished to wild reservations, and re^

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quired to farm when farming was impossibleeven to instracted farmers, and at the sametime he was deprived of arms and ammuni-tion for hunting, and was then forbidden toleave the reservation ! The white man sup-

planted him in trapping and hunting, in theseal and salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast ;and though the Indian was a natural herder

of cattle, it was made a felony for him tosell them. Our nation practically prohibitedall lines of work natural to him, and falsifiedits promises to furnish him means for farming

the one kind of labor prescribed and insist-ed upon. There was ceaseless oppression,and all these crimes burn with a lurid lightin the records of our dealings with Indians.How great a debt to the ludian has our na-tion contracted by all these crimes againsthis natural rights, his manhood, his human-

ity ! And many of these wrongs still exist.The agitation of this subject was at last


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shame recognize and deplore. This kind ofIndian work can be done in the smallestvillage or rural neighborhood, and the smallgifts of many helpers would make an ag-gregate which would enable the Wom-

en's National Indian Association soon tosupply with missions the destitute tribesand separated parts of tribes. We haveforty-eight States and Territories, a numberamply able to furnish the help now lackingif each State were during a year to furnishmeans to open but one new mission, or about$1500.

What is the work of the Women's Nation-al Indian Association? It is the work of

informing the public of the needs, capabili-ties, and progress of our native Indians, andalso it is the work of moving the Govern-

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ment, by direct appeals, to render just helpto them. It also poiuts out how Indiansmay wisely be helped industrial! y^ educa-tionally, morally, and religiously, and it seeksto win such help for them.

Second, it is the work of sending helpersto reside among Indians to labor for theirinstruction and elevation, to assist them inhome- building, in special and professionaleducation, by hospital work, and in all other

practical and practicable ways.

The first of the above services is renderedby the circulation of literature and petitions,by work through the press, by public meet-ings, and Legislative work actively done forthe past fourteen years.

The Missionary Department was intro-duced in 1884, and remembering that manytribes have waited more than a hundred

years in vain for the gospel, its object is tosupply all destitute tribes and separated


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parts of tribes of this country with a goodmission. This work, with Government ap-

proval and aid on its own lines, and doneonly in tribes and portions of tribes ivhere nomission work is being done by any church or

denominational society or missionaries, has theplan of transferring each station and of giv-ing its mission property, land, cottage, and

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chapel to some one of the permanent socie-

ties as soon as one of these will accept it forpermanent work. In this way the Associa-tion helps all the great missionary organiza-tions by the process of secnriug the missionswhich these societies are not at present finan-cially able to inaugurate.

As defined to its workers this missionarywork is to teach Indians to make and prop-erly keep comfortable homes ; to teach themdomestic work and arts ; to prepare foodand make clothing ; to care for the sick andfor children ; to respect work and to becomeself-supporting; to influence and to helpthem to learn the English language; andabove all, to teach them the truths of thegospel, and to seek their conversion to

practical Christianity. This pioneer work,done by the Association as a whole or byifcs State auxiliaries, is such as is done in

bur great cities, and includes house-to-house

visitation, day and Sunday-schools, instruc-tion in temperance and the other moral-ities, and religious teaching. This work inthe tribes finds the individuals who desireand are worthy of special education, andthose who can well use loan funds for home

building, and for the purchase of implements,sewing-machines, and furniture. It also

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sees the political and other wrongs needingredress at the agencies, and often goes fartowards finding the remedies for these. Onr

missionary work also furnishes hoxes ofclothing and goods where these can be wise-ly used, and sent such aid to thirty tribeslast year. Other gifts, such as hardwareand ploughs, have been sent to a few whomGovernment could not or did not supply,and the surprise and delight of the recip-ients were a sermon to see.

The Home-building work adopted by theAssociation in 1885 is an interesting depart-

ment, and has builded or well-repaired, byloan funds, fifty to sixty homes which havechanged the lives of probably a hundredIndians, and h.ave been centres of light, civ-ilization, and right influence in the varioustribes where they have been planted.Loaned funds have done a beneficent servicealso in the purchase of implements and kin-dred helps to civilization, in awakeningright ambitions, and in the development ofIndian capabilities; and the debts thus in-curred have been paid even more promptlythan could reasonably have been expected.Assistance of this sort has been given to theOmahas, Winuebagoes, Kiowas, Sioux, Dako-tas, Cheyennos, Arapahoes, Hoopas, Nook-

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sachks, and Alaskans. Loans of from twoto five hundred dollars have been madeto enable Indians to build homes, and small-er snmS) varying from five to one hundreddollars, have been furnished to assist appli-cants in the purchase of farming implements,horses, harness, crockery, window - glass,dooi%, small hardware, clothing, cookingutensils, etc., etc.

Our Educational Work has been domestic


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and industrial largely, and has been done inevening schools, though three day schools indestitute places have been conducted withthe aid of Government. The work of aiding

bright Indians in professional education has

also been served by the Special EducationCommittee, elected November, 1888, and byindividuals or auxiliaries, or by joint giftsof branches. One of those who received sucheducation, and the first Indian woman phy-sician, is Dr. Susan La Flesche, now Govern-ment physician among her people, the Oma-has. Others have been aided in medicaleducation or trained as nurses, while othershave been aided to prepare for teaching, orfor other work among their own people.

The department of Indian Libraries haswrought wide benefit, providing reading-matter for returned Indian students, for

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reading-rooms on reservations, and in tbeschools and cbapels. Already thera areseventy-five Indian schools into which peri-odicals are going, and these are doing much toAmericanize the yon ng Indians. One superin-tendent says : " If you could see the childrenat Kakomish devouring the St, Nicholas andCentury pictures, you would realize the de-gree in which you are aiding our work. Itis not too much to say that their little stock

of literature is opening a new life to them.Its effect is so important that I would hard-ly call it an adjunct to their school- work rather a complement. It is inciting themto what we wish above all things, conversa-tion in English. It gives them an interestin American affairs. Even the handling ofone of the best magazines with its excellentiUnstrations, has a great influence on achild."

Hospital Work was adopted as a depart-ment in 1890. Miss Porter, who had been


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head-nurse at Hampton Institute for nineyears, went to Crow Creek as " field matron "for tbe winter. In accepting this Govern-ment position her salary was secured, andshe was allowed to visit freely among the

Indians. Her work was primarily to carefor the sick, but it necessarily led to thorough

i

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knowledge of the physical condition andneeds of the people, and gave good opportu-nities for teaching them simple rules ofhealth.

The Young People's Department, added in1889, has enlisted vigorous assistance frommany bands of j'oung people who have sentgifts and important contributions of liter-ature, besides widely advertising Indianneeds and methods of supplying them. Thesupply of work for all existing societies andall prospective ones is at present inexhaust-ible, and the variety equally so. All agesand talents can lind occupation in provid-ing help through all our departments. Mis-sionaries' cottages want carpet or rugs, fur-niture, pictures, and bright fancy articles,to make them attractive homes. These need

not always be new or cost much money. Alittle judicious begging will frequently bringencouraging results.

More than eighty thousand allotments oflaud have been made or are in process ofcompletion, including those which antedatethe severalty law, about twenty thousandallotments having been made since the lawwas enacted. The Indians holding theseallotments have passed out of helpless sav-

age relations into the status of free men.


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nuder our flag, and the path to this all-in-chidiug privilege is now open to all of theaboriginal race among us. To help the greatmajority of those who have not yet beenable to avail themselves of the new privi-lege, and still farther to confirm in civiliza-tion, and aid in development the twentythousand new Indian citizens, are two rea-sons why wo still labor as an Association ontheir behalf.

The economy of missionary work will beseen from an official statement that ^^ Inseven years it cost the United States $1,848,-000 for the support of 1200 Dakota Indiansin a savage state. The cost for seven yearsafter they were Christianized was $120,000 ;a saving of $1,728,000, or $246,857 per an-num."

The result is that during the last eightyears twenty-five mission stations have beenestablished, directly or indirectly, and have

been transferred, and are now in Methodist,Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, UnitedPresbyterian, or Moravian care ; and theseare located in Indian Territory, in Northand South Dakota, Nebraska, California,Idaho, and Florida. In the two Dakotasalone there are, by Dr. Dorchester's Report,not less than eleven thousand Indians in

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connection with Christian churches, and theyear-books of the denominations containstatistics which are ample encouragement toundertake all needed missions among them.

There are still about sixty Indian agents,and these have, even at this late date, often


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eight Indian Agencies in Dakota during thevacation. Struck by the crying need of

more and better workers in the Govern-9

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ment schools, especially iu the small ''campschools," I chose my new field iu a wildSioux village, on the Missouri River, wherethere was a deserted shell of a school-house,

but no school for eight years. I weut therewith a friend, and we worked for two yearstogether with the greatest enthusiasm, act-ually enjoying the hardships, difficulties, andsuccesses of our pioneer life. We both as-siduously studied the Dakota language, andfound it an invaluable aid to coufidence andsuccess. She assisted me in teaching theschool of forty to fifty children, and I helpedher in the duties of a missionary, to whichshe was appointed, holding women's meet-ings and prayer meetings, teaching Sunday-school, instructing classes for baptism, visit-ing the sick (and, indeed, visiting everybody),and giving the women such aid and sug-gestion in house -keeping, cooking, sewing,and domestic science generally as is nowgiven by the " field-matrons" appointed byGovernment. I look back with a great dealof pleasure and satisfaction upon the threeyears I lived at " White River Lodge," as w

called our cosey cabin. (I stayed one yeoafter my friend left me, calling upon a nefrelative to fill her place. ) I became strongattached to the jieople there, and I think

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won their affection and respect. There wereabout two hundred men, women, and chil-


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and systematic in comparison with the men.They no longer do the field-work, but maystill be seen carrying wood and water, and

performing other tasks which seem to us tobe drudgery, but are light to them beside

the complex burdens of civilized house-keep-ing. It seemed really unkind to teach themthat they must wash dishes and make beds,make white underclothing and keep itclean, and fashion for themselves drosseswith superfluous ruffles and unnecessary

button-holes. They learn all these details,however, with what seems to us wonderfulwillingness and facility, aud a few months

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sees starched white skirts, and deliciousraised bread in earth -floored cabins whichhold forth little promise of such finished

products of civilization.

It seems at first as if the women were alittle slower of comprehension than the men,and less apt to receive new ideas in otherwords, as much more heavily-built mental-ly as they certainly are physically. Their

broad, shapeless figures, clumsy movements,and the deliberation with which they weigha point which you think demands imme-diate action, are not at all attractive; butthere is a distinctively womanly qualityabout these Indian wives and mothers which

wins your regard upon a nearer acquaint-ance. I think they are as devoted, as self-forgetful and willing to labor for the goodof their households as any of our sex any-where in the world.

The children are delightful; and theyounger and smaller and wilder they are, themore fascinating in their innocent naivete.Only two or throe of mine had ever been toschool before, or knew a word of English, and

every one of them is a distinct personalityto me now. I can shut my eyes and see the


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quaint little figures the tousled blackheads, the sparkling black eyes, the trailing

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red shawls, and ragged shirts against abackground of sunburnt prairie or the yel-low pine walls of my school-room. Some ofthem learned the mysteries of the books andthe mischief of the average school-boy withabout equal rapidity, while others, invari-ably obedient, were, alas ! hopelessly dull.

We taught many industries in our school,albeit it was only a day school. The girlslearned to make and mend, to wash and iron,to cook and serve palatable food. The boyscultivated a small garden, and waited uponthe girls !

A mid-day lunch was served to all. I ama strong believer in the effectiveness of theindustrial day school, when properly man-aged ; and if I could have but one form ofdistinctively Indian school, I should preferit to any other. The influence upon thewhole village is very great, and the pupil,having completed his primary educationthere, can enter a more advanced school inwholesome competition with white childrenand youth. This plan has thus far shownthe best results.

The men of our camp were described asunusually stubborn in their resistance to allprogress. We were received at the first witha friendly response to our genuine desire to

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help them, but there was a certain amountof opposition to the school, which had to be


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gradually overcome. We found that if wecould win over the children, their indulgent

parents would give us no further trouble.One especially attractive little maid, asshy as she was pretty, whose Eomau-nosed

father treated our advances with lofty in-difference, hovered about the school-housefor weeks before we could entice her in.Evidently she could not keep away; and,one morning, it happened that when sheappeared in the neighborhood all the chil-dren were piling into big wagons, with

baskets of edibles, and a joyful confusionreigned instead of the usual pleasant or-der. We were going to celebrate our firstschool picnic. The ragged red shawl drew

nearer, and a longing look came into the bigbrown eyes. A smile and a nod of invita-tion, and the maiden skipped into the backof one of the wagons, whore she kept her

picturesque tatters as much out of sightas possible, among the crisp ginghams andnew straw sailors already assumed by hermates.

They were very good to her, however,and I think she had a thoroughly happyday. At any rate, she came to school

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bright and early the next moruing, andsoon proved herself one of our very best

scholars.

Not only among the women and childrenis the iuflaence of a pure woman felt forgood. It is equally powerful in its effectupon the undeveloped nature of the ludianyoung men. Her superior knowledge, herfearlessness, and her goodness seem to fillthem with admiration and almost awe, andshe can persuade them to study and to think,and to give up some of their old bad habits,

when au equally good man would not influ-ence them at all.


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At one time I had an evening school for aclass who were too old for the day school,and whose touching eager uess to learn filledme with a desire to help them.

It was the most interesting part of my workfor the time being, because of the zeal aud

pjitieuce of my pupils. I have had all sortsof knotty questions to settle for these tallscholars of mine : I have been asked to ad-vise concerning a trade, a church, a love af-fair, and have several times attempted toreconcile husband and wife.

While absorbed in this inspiring work, I

realized that the teacher or missionary, how-ever hard she tried to enter into their lives,

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80 different from her own, could see only oneside of the Indian.

I wanted to look at the world from hisstand-point if I could, and with this ohjectin view I obtained permission (not withoutdifficulty) of a party of wild Indians whomI knew, to accompany them on a deer-hunt.

This was after I had resigned from myschool. We were out nine weeks in rain

and shine, plenty or scarcity, and I sharedthe varying fortunes of the party as one ofthemselves, dressing as much like them as Icould, eating their food, sleeping on theground in my own tent, which they carriedfor me, and riding an Indian pony all theway. I was treated with kindness and re-spect which never failed ; and althoughsome things about the trip were not pleas-ant, I have always been glad that I took it,for I am sure that in no other way could I

have gained equal insight into the natureand customs of the red man. I can now


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"put myself in his place" with consider-able ease, and am less severe upon hisfailings, and even his vices, than I usedto be.

The experience which I have so slightlyoutlined covers yet another phase. Soon

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after General Morgan, the late excellentCommissioner of Indian Affairs, came into

office he overstepped precedent by appoint-ing two women to inspect and superviseIndian school-work. One of these womenwas Mrs. Dorchester, the wife of the IndianSchool Superintendent, the other was my-self. Since nearly half the pupils and alarge majority of the teachers in theseschools are women, the plan of putting wom-en in the field as Special Agents, Super-visors, or whatever you choose to call them,seemed a judicious one.

I resigned one year later, to accept theyet more honorable position of wife and mis-tress of a household, and I regret that a wom-an was not appointed in my x)lftce.

I enjoyed this work thoroughly, althoughit involved the fatigues of constant traveland open - air life, to which I had becomesomewhat inured. I visited about fifty

schools, widely scattered upon the variousSi

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