Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-05-30
CURRENT AFFAIRS.
The Phgnix's Chicago Member
Gives Another Glimpse Of Work Among
the LOWly In the Western Babylon.

the LOWly In the Western Babylon.
The Toynbee Hall Observation-Disclosures
Work in the Bohemian Colony 40. 900
Btrons---a Chicago Hard Case" aged
Six.
CHICAGO, May 81 1890.
Before coming here had seen brief no
tices in some Of the city dailies of Chicago's
"Toynbee hall" experiment, which is being
conducted by Miss Jane Addams, young
woman Of wealth aud culture assisted by
her friend Miss Ellen Starr. Il may men.
tion in passing, that Miss Starr is nearly
related to the families Of that name living
in Windham county, Last Saturday even
ing Prof. Moorhead, who has lived several
years in Italy and is thoroughly acquainted
with the language, was invited ~ attend
the concert given by the "TOynbee hall
mistresses to their Italian friends Some Of
the ladies from the Institute accompanied
him, and it occurred TO me that an outline
Of the work being done might not be unin-
teresting to you. The concert. wholly in
Italian, and by good vocal and instrumental
performers was much enjoyed by the audi
ence, if one could Judge by the look ON
their dark, handsome faces. There were
number Of babies, most Of them pretty,
but having a comical look, because even the
youngest Of them had his ears pierced and
sported a pair Of gold earrings Among
the guests was pointed out Miss Nina Van
Zandt, who achieved wide notoriety by
her marriage to the anarchist Spies. She
is Of Italian descent
About a year ago the Misses Starr and
Addams hired roomy old house in one of
the poorest sections Of the city, had it
painted and papered, and furnished it taste
fully though plainly. They then set about
getting acquainted with their tenement
house neighbors, calling upon them, offer
ing them the use Of their well furnished
laundry every day in the week, and invt-
ing them 10 entertainments and classes.
Every morning from . to II O'Clock the
long drawing room ON one side Of the hall
is used for a kindergarten In the after
noon the school furniture is removed and
the room becomes Il parlor, with rugs on
the polished floor, easy chairs, and plenty
Of books, pictures, aud flowers On Mon.
day afternoons this room is filed with Ital
ian girls who sew and play games, while
the little ones cut out pictures and paste
them in scrap books Sometimes they are
induced to take bath when they can be
persuaded Of the beauty Of the porcelain
bath tubs, aud clean clothes are offered as
desideratum club OF young women of
the same nationality also meets the same
afternoon and reads "Romola, " aided by
pictures Of Florence, contemporary art, and
lectures by Miss Starr on Florentine artists.
Monday evenings belong to the French
neighbors, who are reviewing the old salons
Of Paris, with the accompaniments Of mu-
sic, conversation, hot coffee, and an occa-
sional lecture on some prominent feature
of French history.
Tuesday afternoons the school boys club
meets, gets books from the circulating Ii.
brary, and has reading aloud At the same
time girls cooking class is at work in the
kitchen. The boys go home to tea, but
come back in the evening for some simple
chemical experiments or a lecture on a
practical topic like "What to do in emer
gencies.
On Wednesday evenings the working
mems discussion club has the floor. 1t has
a membership Of %, and others who are
interested attend A short address is given
by some well known public speaker, which
is followed by the freeSt discussion Of
strikes, labor unions, the eight hour move
ment, child labor, and other live questions
of the hour
Thursday afternoons a lady physician
talks to the women on physiology and by
giene, telling them how To raise healthy
children even near the Chicago river
There is also cooking class. In the even
ing the German population turns out "a,
nlGSse for a social evening Of reading, mu.
sic aud simple refreshments
On Friday afternoons the school girls
club comes in to sew, embroider and cook,
and each member takes home book from
the library. In the evening the working
| girls enjoy lecture or concert, and ON Sat
urday evenings there is the typical euter
| tainment.
1t will he seen that Miss Adams and her
associate are very busy women. What will
be the outcome Of their labors remains to
be seen. They certainly bring CHEEKY,
helpful influence to bear upon the lives of
their less favored brothers and sisters, but
whether it will work radical change in
their characters, which will insure the con
tinuance Of the good work after its prime
movers leave the scene Of action, is still an
open question. Let us hope that it will
There is no direct religious element in the
plan, partly owing TO the fact that so large
a proportion of the nearby population is
Roman Catholic, and this omission gives
the movement IA somewhat superficial char
acter in the opinion of many people, who
are watching it with real interest
There are over 40, 900 Bohemians in Chi
cago, II 900 of whom live in compact
town in the sixth ward, known as Pilsen.
A majority of them are nominally, at least,
Roman Catholics but there are many in
| fdels among them who are busily engaged
in disseminating infidel literature. In 1894
the city missionary engaged Rev. e. A,
Adams, who had been a missionary at
| Prague, in Bohemia, for ten years, to work
among these people, and in 1888 church
was organized which now has 40 members.
The children soon became greatly interested
in the Sunday school, aud would gather in
the street long before the hour, crowding
into the store " here the school was held in
such numbers that the door had to be locked
some minutes before the session opened, and
then the room was so densely packed that
there was real peril to health from the foul
ness of the air. 1t was found that two
great evils threatened the Bohemians-an
infidel press and the exposure of their boys
and young men TO the worst elements in
our American civilization. One of the Bo-
hemian papers, having large circulation,
persistently and systematically strives to
tear down Christianity and rear in its place
the red flag of anarchy, publishing in its
Sunday issues Paine's Age of Reason"
Ingersoll's inlidel lectures, and caricatures
of the Bible. To counteract these two dan
gers Mr. Adams publishes a weekly paper
ROYAl