The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-12-25
What Seven Women Have Done.

A recent English book, "Fdctd, non
TerJd," contains the history of the phi
lanthropic labors of seven Englishwom-
en-. The AtheHcuDl says: 'If the vol
ume does nothing else, it at any rate
gives us n new notion of how much
there Is for women to do, and how much
woman can do if she is in earnest
about her work"
Miss Rye began her efforts few years
ago. She had capital of ESQ. Its
lasting capacity has been as miraculous
as that of the "widow's cruise of oil. -
She has helped one hundred and sew
enly-eight governesses to emigrate to
the British colonies, where they have
all, mainly through her efforts, found
employment. She has put fifteen humid
red EnglishwOmen into good places as
domestics, in Australia and New Yea
land. She has personally taken TO Can
ada and placed in respectable families
twelve hundred children of the London
streets. Nine-tenths of them are girls,
"who, but for their benefactress' efforts,
were condemned inevitably to a life OF
the lowest degradation" Miss Macpher-
son has done the same good work for
eighteen hundred children.
Miss Chandler decided, some years
since, to found 4 charity for the para
lyZed. There was no such thing in Lon
don. She began by taking care of n
poor, paraiyzed carpenter. AS fast as
she could, she assumed charge of more
paralytics one by one. She has now
opened hospital for paralysis and epi-
lepsy, in Queens square, London. 1t is
not excelled by any of the same sort in
the world. She has also established a
convalescent hospital, which is doing
great good. She has, moreover, secured
che endowment of forty-eight perma-
nent annuities for incurable paralytics
and epileptics. She is now collecting n
large amount of money TO be applied in
this same way.
Miss Gilbert, a blind lady, opened II
blind-schOOl in Holborn cellar, for
which she paid eighteen pence a week.
She has now a Thousand pupils, whom
she has taught to support themselves.
They maintain the institution that gives
them a home, an education, and an oc-
cupatiOn. Its maintenance costs eS,OO0
a year. This work of poor blind
woman may fairly be compared with
any of the marvels history records as
wrought by blind men. We admire the
sightless king of Bohemia, with his
blazoned motto, "Ich Dien," for his
dauntless ride TO death on the battle
field of Crecy; but here is q blind woman
who puts that motto into practice, anC
saves life instead of destroying it,
Mrs. Hilton has built up day-nur.
sery at Ratcliff 1t is one of the best o
/ its kind, and has served as q model TO
many.
Miss Cooper has opened and man
aged n Combined club, reading-rOO
and lecture-course for coster-mongers.
Miss Whately has organized great
schools for Mahometan children al
/ Cairo.
The author ends his account of the
work these seven women have done ia
these words: ait may be said that there
are many others who would have fur
nished me with good types of the phi
! lanthropic EnglishwOman, quite equa
| to those / have mentioned, but thOst
whom I wish to take as my types ar
those who have had to fight their wal
up against difficulties, frequently them
selves i'm restricted circumstances, an,
not those whose position and wealtl
renders philanthropic efforts less oner
GUS"
These great works are the fruit o
purely feminine effort. They have beer
planned by women and wrought by
women. Ihe author OF "FUctQ, UOi
Ter6d" considers them as proof tina
women can do better by themselves, un
fettered by conventional rule, than wher
organized in masses. 1t is, he says,
simple rule-of-three sum. If Miss Ry,
and Miss Macpherson have cared 70
three thousand women, fifty wOmeI
ought to care for seventy-five thousand
What sisterhood, fifty strong, has don
so? The economy of the good work i
another strong point. If the Londol
charities which are supported by taxa
tion were managed as well, the taX-pay
ers of the city would save e500,000 year
ly. The fact is Of moment here, in vie'
of the damaging disclosures James GOl
don Bennett has made in regard to tn
charitable institutions in the EasI
Some of them pay three dollars in sala
ries for every dollar spent in their nom
inal work. There is a Bible Society i
Virginia which is said to spend min
dollars i'm order to induce its self-deny
ing agents to buy and distribute oil
dollars worth of Bibles.-C Chicago IT.
btHle.