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PUBLIC-SPIRITED WOMEN.

A lady who, is sending her impressions of America to the Age, corrects the impression that society women in New" York are indifferent to the sufferings of the poor in the crowded tenements of that* great city. The correspondent declares that ' she is astonished to 'find how hard the women work who have not to earn their own living. There are very many rich women who spend their lives and a great part of their wealth in ministering to Nfew York's poor, which is mostly" composed* not of Americans, but of the .dregs ; of European countries. And such poverty £ The writer visited some of the- poorest quarters, and she says the state- of things compels . tears. The poverty there, "sears the heart and eats into -the, soul," and one wonders how "aching hearts - have- even room to beat." And in Contrast with.it all is the . "loud-voiced . wealth" -of s the west -of the city. "Some women' pay 120 dollars for a pair'of silk stockings/ -and there are women in the east side ~who would go down on their knees and thank God for one* single square meal/ Of course there are cynics who say that the work of these warm-hearted women is ' a fad, or that it is done to vary the monotony of existence, or for advertising purposes, but there will always be these people. Some of the best of the workers will not allow their names to be published. The 'girls in the tenements who take care "of ' -the smaller children w.hen the mothers, are' out. at work" are taught sewing and other-use-ful things, and if they fall ill are taken to the country to get perhaps their first glimpse of grass and hear" for thfe , first time the song of birds. The. gills are .not; •;only helped in. . their -.hard -childhood,- btlt s are not lost sight of till. they are married. Children arc given marks for good con; duct, and so many marks . mean . new articles of clothing, shoes are. supplied inlarge numbers (for an American child "would die sooner than go barefooted to school"), wholesome meals are given, and every Easter each child receives a pot, of geraniums. This is the only flower that will flourish in the vitiated air of the tenement. Then there are the women doctorß who attend to the poor, trying to fight the combined forces of dirt and. ignorance. One woman doctor made 12,000 visits to homes last year. Every year a great bazaar is held, and the proceeds devoted to giving little exhausted children summer outgoings into the country. To the child--ren this is the day of the year, they look forward to it for months, often with such excitement that they become quite ill. "It is such public-spirited women B*. these," concludes the writer, "who are the hope and joy and pride of this country. The splendid work they are doing -casfcscarcely be realised even here. They" arenow • agitating for laws to prevent childlabour." '. . >>-".-.

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH19050824.2.15

Bibliographic details

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11645, 24 August 1905, Page 4

Word Count
498

PUBLIC-SPIRITED WOMEN. Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11645, 24 August 1905, Page 4

PUBLIC-SPIRITED WOMEN. Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11645, 24 August 1905, Page 4