The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-12-05
THE HOFeR GIRLS.
A Quartet of Pluck. Talent and Successful
Industry.

lhuuNtrS.
A personal appeal is about to be made
to the booksellers of America in behalf
of the purity of child literature. Each
merchant is requested TO keep close
surveillance of his book counters during
the holiday season and prohibit the eX-
hibition or sale there of books detrimcn-
tai to the manners and morals of chill
dren. The book market, it is asserted, is
yearly flooded with pernicious literature
in pyrotcchnic setting and seductivcly
labeled, Goodies For the Little Ones"
the "Childrens Library" etc.
The appeal is made by the Kindergar-
ten Literature company. The motor of
this enterprise is Miss Andrea Hofer. a
sparkling little black eyed woman of %.
She is ono of five remarkable sisters born
and reared in an Iowa town. Her father
was II German exile, who sought Amer
lea after the revolution of 1918. Musi-
clan, poet, philosopher, he advocated tho
Froebel theory of education, and was in
many respects i'll advance of his day.
From u successful brewer he became
al apostle of temperance and edited n
prohibition paper with Governor Lotion
of Iowa.
Hofer girls We're early initiated. Each
assisted their father and three brothers
to get out the paper. Andrea set type
at the age of II and served as printers
devil. At 20 she was editor in chief
With the brewery the family fortune
vanished. But poverty never depressed
the Hofers. I'VE had music, poetry
and books" said Andrea. I'VE lived in
q little world of our own
The Moses that led the family out of
this not unsuggestive Iowa wilderness
was Mari. the eldest. She had ideas as to
the training of the human voice. Alone
She worked out her theory of natural
child voice culture, to find later an OPEN
ing as teacher in n neighboring state
Finally she drifted to Chicago, where
she found Il kindred spirit in the Won
derful Professor TOmlins. instructor of
music i'll the public schools of that CITY,
Mari Hofer became his assistant, and to-
day she is II musical power in the city,
where she also gives lectures and in
struction in kindergarten music to nor
NAL classes. She was soon joined by her
sisters.
First came the little printers devil
1AiitiSt' IollIiIul I'll TOtDcl IneOrleS,
she found an opening as Il ''free lance
on prominent western papers and as
sisted the growth of the kindergarten
movement while she eked out some
what precarious livelihood.
Chicago subsequently became the hot
bed of the kindergarten thought In
May, 1888. y. Il. Stockholm & Co. found
ed The kindergarten Magazine An
drea Hofer became assistant editor. Two
years later she was again IL free lance"
In 1892 she learned that The Kinder
garten Magazine could be bought ut low
figure. She had no money, but her faith
was unbounded Soon the desired sum
was borrowed, and she became sole own
er of the plant. Her sister Amalie, an
early graduate of the Chicago Kinder
garten Training school, was ut the time
successful teacher i'll Buffalo. She had
had six years training III every depart
ment of newspaper work. So strong
was Andrea's faith in their ability to
make the magazine Il success that she
prevailed upon Amalie to relinQuish an
assured salary and assume as editor the
uncertainty of the new magazine, while
Andrea became its business manager.
They soon realized, however. that the
magazine which is confined largely TO
the theory of this revolutionizing edu-
cation could never DO popular. In an