Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-07-17
OUR CHICAGO STAFF MEMBER.
Wis. CoIburn Approves of the New Pho
ni,. and Tells EntertainingIy of her
work in the Home for the FrIendIess.

WORK III Nnt hohhf AoA Aht EflehuleAas
CHICAGO, ILL.,, July s, '91.
GLOW much reading there is i'm The
phonix! As glanced over the county
new, in my Phpnix last Monday this SEN
tcnrc caught my eye, and l mentally ejac-
ulatcd. That's So Ever since the paper
came out in its eight-page form, Pve been
intending to write something like the above.
bu, could not find time When first heard
of the contemplated change, thought |
should not like it at all; but in its new
form it still seems like an old friend, and
il contains not only so much but such in
tercsting matter-especially to an exile, like
myself-that | at once became reconciled
to the inevitable, and now could not be
persuaded to go back to four pages if had
a chance.
Had the pen of a Dickens, to bring out
the picturesque elements that enter into it.
am sure an account of the daily life in
this Home for the Friendess' would in
tercst your readers; but, knowing how far
short of the reality any description could
give would fall, I hesitate to attempt il.
our household, on the first of July, num-
herrd 211, including superintendent as
sistant superintendent, housekeeper, three
teachers, (the kindergarten teacher, who is
assisted by two pupils from the training
school, lives outside the building), nine
carr-takers, three cooks, chamber maid.
aundresses, etc, engineer, 4S women in
mates. and l45 children. The ages of the
children range from one year to ID, and the
reasons for placing them here are varied.
Some have neither father nor mother: 9th
crS have one or both parents living. but
they are so addicted to drink as to be unfit
to care for their children. In both cases
the children are usually given to the Home
by legal process, and homes are eventually
found for them in families giving satisfac-
tory references. Sometimes the father,
temperate, Industrious man. is stricken by
disease or accident, and has to 90 to the
hospital; then the mother has to go out to
work, taking with her, perhaps one or two
younger children, while the older ones find
temporary shelter in the Home.
Then there are the Humane society cases
waits picked up in the streets or station
houses apparently belonging to nobody.
\ little girl of three, brought here by POI
lice matron, had a tin pail and five pennies,
indicating that she had been sent out for
beer and lost her way Nearly week
elapsed before the anxious y mother APP
peared to claim her child. Another three
year-od brought by an officer, showed a
little body covered with black-and-blue
marks, the work of brutal step-father, in
whose household she was an unwelcome
inmate. Going down town one day,
thought | would take this child with me,
thinking she would enjoy the ride as she
had not been away from the house since
she came five months ago. We had hardly
got well seated in the car before | noticed
the passengers casting anxious glances in
the direction of my little charge, and look
ing under the broad brimmed hat, saw the
big tears rolling down her chubby face. | at
once surmsed that her baby mind was filled
with the idea that she was being taken back
to the home where she had been so harShly
treated, and fastened to tell her we We're
only going to the store to buy something
nice. At first she refused to be comforted,
but a penny in her own hand, with the
privilege of expanding it at the first street.
stand for roll of lozenges, together with
the promise of being taken back to the
Home, at last brought smiles, and the little
outing was pleasant one after all.
Our children are happy here, and are, on
the whole, as well behaved as any other $50
,,-,lI
for, comfortably and even prettily dressed
(of course many of the clothes are second
HANDY, and have frequent remembrances
from kind friends outside in the shape of
donations of books, toys, flowers, fruit,
fireworks for the Fourth, and even ice
cream-of which, it is needless to say, they
are inordinately fond.
OF the women inmates l will only take
time to say that all sorts of misfortunes
bring them here strong drink being at the
bottom of most of the trouble. There are
also many, very many of those poor moth
ers, for whom no one has ever taken the
VOW to love, cherish, and protect. Occa-
sionally one of these unfOrtunates is anX-
ious to keep her child, but usually she is
far more willing to intrust it to the care of
strangers than the mother who knows the
sacredness of the marriage tie. For these
women we either find employers, who are
willing to take a woman with child, or
else send them to the Children's Aid so
ciety, an organization formed for the pur-
pose of bringing together childless homes
and homeless children. Once relieved of
her "encumbrance," the mother easily gets
situation, for here as everywhere, there is
always a demand for domestics that far
exceeds the supply.
There is one thing, however, of which
methnks hear you saying the supply is
entirely beyond the demand, and that is a
letter spun out like this one from
f. T. c.
NEW HAMPSHIRE NOTES.