Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-01-06
THE HoFeR GIRLS.
A Quartet of Pluck. Talent and Successful
Industry.


A Quartet of Pluck, Talent and Successful
Industry.
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 detrinen-
tai to the manners and morals of chill
dren. The book market, it is asserted, is
yearly flooded with pernicious literature
IN pyrotechnic setting and seductively
labeled, Goodies For the Little Ones"
the "Children's Library etc.
The appeal is made by the Kindergar,
ten Literature company. The motor Of
this enterprise is Miss Andrea Hofer
sparkling little black eyed woman of %.
She is one of five remarkable sisters born
and reared in an Iowa town. Hen father
was German exile. who sought Amer
lea after the revolution of 1913. Musi-
clan, poet. philosopher, he advocated the
Froebel theory of education, and was in
many respects in advance Of his day.
From n successful brewer he became
an apostle of temperance and edited
prohibition paper with Governor Lotion
of Iowa.
Into the mysteries of printers ink the
Hofer girls We're early initiated. Zach
assisted their father and three brothers
to get out the paper. Andrea set type
at the age Of II and served ms printers
devil. AT 90 she was editor in chief.
With the brewery the family fortune
vanished. But poverty never depressed
the Hofers. 1--WE had music, poetry
and books" said Andrea. I'VE lived in
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
ing as teacher in neighboring state.
Finally she drifted to Chicago, where
she found kindred spirit in the Won
derful Professor Tomlins, Instructor Of
music in the public schools Of that city.
Mari Hofer became his assistant, and to-
day she is a 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
Andrea. Brimful of Froebel theories,
she found an opening as ''free lance"
on prominent western papers and as
sisted the growth of the kindergarten
movement while she eked out a some
what precautions livelihood.
Chicago subsequently became the hot
bed of the kindergarten thought, In
May, 1888. a. b. Stockholm & Co. found
ed The kindergarten Magazine. An
drea IIofer became assistant editor. Two
years later she was again a free lance"
In 1892 she learned that The Kinder
garten Magazine could be bought at low
figure. She had no money, but her faith
was unbouuded. Soon the desired sum
was borrowed and she became sole own
err of the plant. Her sister Amalie, an
early graduate of the Chicago Kinder
garten Training school, was at the time
a successful teacher in Buffalo. She had
had six years training in every depart
ment of newspaper work. SO strong
was Andrea's faith in their ability to
make the magazine a 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 be popular. In an