The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-04-23
KITCHEN TRAINING.
A WORK WHICH HAS HELPED MANY
POOR AND RICH FAMILIES.

POOR AND RICH FAMILIES.
what Kitchen Garden Training" Means,
How II Was started and by Whom.
Miss .unungton's Crsnt Work FOR Her
Less Fortunate sisters In Blg city.
There is so much to find fault with
and so much to wish for in such great
big, dirty city MS ours that sometimes
the good, sweet, modest facts connected
with our charitable institutions are over
looked, said visitor to the Wilson In
dustrial school and mission as she came
away from there the other day. The
building at 1875 st. Marks place was
turned, nearly forty years ago, from
factory into the pleasant school house
which it now is. This school, which was
the first institution Of the kind in Ambr-
lea, is not endowed and is maintained
entirely by voluntary contribution. Mrs.
Jonathan Sturges is the first director,
and many familiar names are on the list
Of managers.
The matron Of the school is Miss
Emily Huntington, the originator Of the
system of kitchen garden training, a
branch Of work now carried on not
only at the Wilson school and elsewhere
in this city, but in other American cities
and in Canada, England, Ireland, Scot.
land and France Miss Huntington has
made the mission house her home, and
here she watches day by day the results
Of the methods which she has estab-
lished
It is with fascinating interest that
one listens to the tale of how by the
merest chance Miss Huntington, at
eighteen, just out of school and ready
to be ushered into fashions pleasures,
CHANGED TO be taken by friend to visit
ragged school, and how the only
daughter of fond parents put society
and the usual amusements Of youth
aside. and not in the same manner, but
with the same motive as her cousin, Fa-
ther Huntington, set herself about mis-
sion school work.
Nobody could work with Miss Hunt
ington's energy and her capacity for or
ganiziug without developing new ideas
which should bring forth more com
plete work, so as time passed on and she
gained experience, not only among the
poor, but with her own class, she made
/ various discoveries. One was that the
leisure of some of the young girls Of her
acquaintance might readily be put to
| good account, and another that kitchen
gardening might with profit be adapted
to the rich as well as the poor.
Ok ,1,e,;raI tbo ., ff,,, 90 s,,,,a
/ Of the mothers and the interest of the
girls, so that a meeting was called foi
the purpose Of developing a plan OF
movement. Fifty girls met at the house
of one Of the elder women. This was in
1857. 1t was proved that most of them
no matter how well versed they were in
Latin and geometry, knew absolutely
nothing about domestic science, so ar
rangements were made for forming a
normal class which should be divided
into companies, these companies to &c
to the mission for regular days of teach
ing.
These young women, as their paths
divided, removed to Boston, Chicago
and elsewhere and set up kitchen gar
dens of their own, with the result thai
the system has spread everywhere, i
might even be said with truth that tn,
other thought, that Of the Working
Girls clubs, emanated from this mis-
sion, for Miss Grace II. Dodge was on,
of the fifty young women who Joined il
the work there, and it was no doubt be
cause Of the experience she gained at thi
time her idea was conceived and devel
oped.
The girls became kitchen gardener
themselves, and afterward, when mar
riage had placed some of them in home
of their own, they wrote to the founde
of the system, "You have no idea hoy
kitchen garden helps me with my sery
ants and my housekeeping, and t
others it gave the means of livelihoo,
when unforeseen reverses Of forum
made them dependent upon their owl
resources.
It must be confessed that "llitchei
garden is a rather misleading name
I for it suggests to many place wher
, vegetables are grown for kitchen use
| When Miss Huntington was asked abou
! the name, she said ut means systeI
. Dy winch al llle lulAANdNltn VI uuAutoli
a science are taught-sweeping, busting
washing, ironing, waiting at table, etc
thought a little Of changing the nam
at one time because it was confounde
= with the term vegetable garden, but
r found nothing that quite took it's place
and l soon discovered that the fact tina
n the name had to be explained gave
g additional importance,
g The school hours are the same here d
g elsewhere-from 0 to 8. There are aboU
o 200 girls, ranging in age from FIVE to tel
y and there are the usual lessons in reaC
s ing, writing and arithmetic, which con-
y under the head Of study. The trainin
a in the kitchen garden branches is httl
= else than a systematized foSm Of pla!
u and this takes up proportionate part
o the school day.-New York Tribune
Nickel Ar,norod shiPs Can't Go Nort