LLEWSAC LODGE.

White Ribbon, Volume 17, Issue 204, 18 June 1912, Page 1

LLEWSAC LODGE.

\ place to rest for a jnoment, Xo draw a long, long breath, lie fore the onward movement --Th«* takes the hill's next crest

( Mr* S. K Graham Clark). • Llewsac Lodge, though situated at Bedford, Mass., fifteen miles from Boston, is yet a part of that wonderful work of which Massachusetts white ribboners are so justly proud, the Franees E. Willard settlement of Boston, of which Miss Caroline M. Caswell was and is the inspiration and head. The Lodge is two miles out of Bedford and perhaps twice as far from historic Lexington, and claims to he, not only a vacation home for young girls during the summer months, but an all-the-year home for women between the ages of forty and sixty, who are without means of support an industrial centre where such can earn a living.

From its incipiency the Frances E. Willard settlement has always maintained a home for young women in connection with its other work ; a home open only to working girls of good character, earning the small sum of five dollars a week or less. During the many years of the Settlement’s life numberless applications to enter this home have been made by women who could no longer Kp railed voung and yet were

not old enough to obtain entrance to any Old Ladies Home. I hese were intelligent American women, without resources, through no fault

of their own, who could not become objects of charity. Many of them had spent their early years in the care of a family of younger hrofhers or sisters, or an aged parent; others

’ \ 7 V \. 4/ . w -If * v. w were pushed out of position where they earned their bread by those younger or better fitted to meet the demands of our day. All needed a

helping hand and a place from which to make a fresh start. The need of these applicantsappeaied to the generous hefWTJPIntSS Caswell that had already* pwr nwt

to the young girl and child, and a great longing to found an industrial centre whgrg. such women might find means of support took possession of her, In November of 1909, under circumstances that looked like the direct guidanco of God, the Settlement took over the Bedford property n- w called Llewsac Lodge, trusting that He who had made possible the first payment on the estate would see that the whole of the indebtedness was met. In March of 1910, the house was entered by Mrs Myra L. Higgins—the devoted matron and head worker of the new r home and a few helpers. In May of the same year, it was first opened to the public. The Lodge is a twentyroomed house orginally built for a gentleman’s private residence. Within, it is highceiled, many - windowed and spacions ; without, by its proportions and beauty, it comnands immediate attention. It sets on an eminence and is approached through an avenue lined with trees and shrubs, a veri table path way for the fairies when dressed in the tender

greens of spring or the varieKtiied hues of autumn. Like a city set on a hill it cannot be hid — except when the trees are in full leaf— and dominates the landscape for a long distance, making, with its

many eyed copula, hay windows, fluttering awnings, balcony and verandah, a brave sight in the daytime ; and, with its beckoning lights, a welcome one at night. Beyond the house is Harvey Cottage, on the first floor of which are situated the laundry and weave-room, the latter now sending out beautiful work under the superintendence of Miss Louise M. Cutler. The upper floor is divided into seven small rooms which are utilised in summer. The spacious ham is the home of our three horses, four cows, and, during the cold weather, five sheep. Next to it stands the farmer’s cottage,and further dow n the dale, in the midst of the small fruit, the three-roomed cottage where the canning is done in a big, clean kitchen under the care of the neatest of housewives, Mrs Mary Dawes. In this neighbourhood are the grain house, the spring, the windmill, and the amplechicken-houses. At present there <»re about four hundred hens, and this branch of the work is in charge of Miss Annie J. Ross. The whole estate covers about one hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, partly wooded. There are orchards, grape vines, and a beautiful grove where hammocks and swings are hung in summer, and benches are placed for those who love to wander and ponder among the trees. There is also a cranberry bog that very soon will furnish work for our women, and a big hope is cherished that some day we shall be rich enough to own a hot-house and add flower culture to our industries. As it is, cold frames provide us with very early violets for sale, and our posy-loving matron keeps the place fragrant and beautiful from the time the tulips show their heads until autumn totally disappears. We had roses in bloom out of doors this year after the heavy frosts had come.

Liewsac is only in its beginning; yet much has been accomplished. Vegetables, eggs, chickens, canned fruit, and every sort of lovely thing that looms turn out are already for sale ; the cranberrybog is on the way to use!illness ; the bee industry is begun.

and soap-making also ; with cold creams, extracts and cooky-mak-ing soon to follow. It is only a matter of time and money when the plant will he self-supporting ai d a means of support for many. It already extends a friendly hand to many varieties of women; not only to those seeking employment, but to those recovering from illness and needing a quiet spot in which to recruit; to teachers who must spend the vacation or week’s end where nerves will get rested ; to burdened mothers who must run away from their cares for a while.

To still others it means a living and a home. A number of women are mw waiting until money for the building of a new dormitory make their residence there possible. There is abundance of space, of God’s fresh air. of opportunity to introduce new activities, new industries, and as the way opens and means are provided these will be attempted. Llewsac is not a charity. It offers self-respecting women entering middle life —or just beyond it —who have reached the end of their resources and are meeting the trying years of worn bodies and nerves —self-support and a home. We know of no other work with just this object in view. It is a home with a home atmosphere and a family altar around which all gather nightly ia the parlours at seven o’clock to meet God in prayer, to listen to the reading of His word and to join in sacred song. Llewsac Lodge is not a venture. It is a fact —a God-appointed task. And since it is such, the end is assured. He Who has begun the good work will perform it. His daughters confidently look to Him to do it. I ninn Siynul.

ooosoO'Oooo o 6 o o o o o o o ® T the risk of wounding adult ® BUBce Ptibilities, I must repeat that not much can he done w for this generation in the way of chang- V _ ing the moral bent of ‘grown up’ persons. • - . The fate of the world is determined by ® the influences which prevail with the . «Tr child from birth to seven of age* certainly from birth to fourteen years of age. Such is substantially the unanimous ... judgment of living psychologists. All . our problems go hack to the child —cor- ~ s* rnpt politics, dishonesty, and greed in • commerce, war, anarchism, drunkenness, 0 incompetence and criminality. We know O n ow that much of our labour for the ® .0 radical betterment of society is costly O and fruitless. It, is because we are work- ® O ing against nature. We take the twig 3 Q after it is bent and has stiffened into a O tree. We take the brook after it has O become a torrent. We take the fire after 0 jt has become a conflagration. Gotfr is O teaching us, in ways made costly by our y 0 ineptitude, to hefjiu at the beyinniivi and H 0 to meet the demands of the situation by O 0 conforming to fundamental principles.” 0 —School Pinjtiolngy Journal, Hoxtou, Ma*» >s 0 J *c A. A *A. rs -<s » tt- «•« « tS- & <5