The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-02-26

a meeting held in the interest of the In
dustrial Home for Girls, in the Hanover
Presbyterian Church last night.
The church auditorium was handsomely
decorated with flags, and was nearly filled
by a deeply interested and appreciative
audience. Mrs. Lafayette Marks pre-
sided and the meeting was opened with
prayer by the Rev. Lafayette Marks, d. D.,
pastor of the church. He also introduced
the speaker Of the evening.
During her address Mrs Edholm criti-
cised fashionable charity work. She had
visited the Opera House on Saturday to
see the pantomlms of ben IIur," and had
been panied to see the beautiful perform
anoe marred by ballet dancing. She was
sure that If these good women knew of the
evil tendencies Of the ballet they would
not be chaperons for such an exhibition.
Mrs. Edholm said that during the after
noon, in company with several residents Of
this city, including "A sergeant of the po-
lice, she had visited a number of houses
OF ill-repute In this city, and was there
fore able to speak to the audience of con-
dtions existing here. and that she had
found them similar to those existing in
other cities which she had visited in the
prosecution of her work for the rescue of
fallen women.
In speaking OF the natural reluctance Of
women to engage in this work she said
that a few years ago she had been i'm
PEELED by sense OF duty to do so. She
had been engaged on a newspaper and a
minister whose evangelical work she was
reporting suggested that her duty as a
Christian woman was in this direction.
He told her of the hundreds of thousands
OF girls her sisters, In the haunts of sin
and vice She bad been unable to get rid
of the impression that 1t was her personal
duty to undertake the "rescue work" and
after a serious struggle she had promised
him to devote her life to it.
As to her experiences she said she had
attended services in churches, had listened
to sermons that gave her great joy; she
listened TO music which had appeared to
her like the melody Of heaven, but the
sweetest music and the greatest joy of her
life had been heard and realized as she
listened to the prayers of penitent fallen
girls, and heard their shouts and songs of
joy on the realization of pardon and de-
livery from the bondage of vice and sin.
Since she had been in this work she had
seen many of these girls rescued that had
become happy wives and mothers and
others who had become eyangelists for
social purity.
The speaker said that her experience had
shown that these girls fell into sin very
early: many of them as early 10 or "A
years of age The average age Is about 10
years and, this proves that very many of
them are not more than 13 years of age
when they begin their awful career of
vice. In this city she had seen girls of not
more than 10 years. When asked their
h1,,. ha1 ntI shatr
much older than this to avoid being taken
out of the houses by legal process. She
related pathetic story of mother whose
daughter had gone away from home and
disappeared. The mother sought for her
child in the jails. in the hospitals, and
hoping that some accident had rescued her
from life of vice. she sought the girl at
the morgues pulling the sheets from the
faces of the corpses she would have been
rejoiccd to find her child dead. In one
case. said the speaker, coming to the
knowledge of Lady Henry Somerset, a
newspaper notice of young girls body
lying in morgue had brought 32i mothers
to the awful house Of the dead. each one
looking for lost daughter. One mother
said She would gladly shovel the dirt into
the grave of her child If she could only
know that she was dead. In speaking OF
the way she had been received by fallen
girls Mrs. Edholm said that In most cases
she had been received kindly. Thousands
OF the girls would gladly escape from a
life of vice If they could--if some one would
extend sympathetic haud and help thom.
Many of them arc Abandoned women be-
cause Christian people abandon them to
their fate. The word most sure to reach
their hearts is mother. In every house
fh,
their mothers. In other cities she had
found girls in these resorts of fallen women
who had been enticed from their homes by
advertisements for girls who wanted work.
In New York she had found a farmers
daughter who. IN telling her story, said her
parents were poor, there were several
children of the family and 1t was hard get
ting along, and she, only child. wanted to
help her father. She thought If she could
get to the city and find employment she
could send him some money. She had am
swored an advertisement and had left
home upon being assured of place to go
TO work When she reached the city she
had been met by man who took her TO
the den whore she was found, aud kept
there prisoner. When 1t was proposed to
take this girl away tho keeper of the house
demanded &c. which it was claimed the girl
owed. The rescuers were compelled TO
pay tribute to vice. The white slave was
rescued and sent to her friends.
The speaker severely criticised Christian
people who refused to visit the houses Of ill
repute to rescue and rave fallen women.
She closed her address with scathing
denunciation of the saloon and an appeal TO
Christian men not to vote for its continu-
anco, She declared that no greater work for
social purity could be done than to abolish
the saloon.
Yesterday morning Mrs. Edholm attended
the meeting of the ministers in the First
Presbyterian Church, and made an address
in which she declared the saloon to be the
cause of much of the vice she had disooY-
cred In this city. At the close of her ad-
dress the Rev. ". p. SwaItz offered the fol-
lowing resolution which was adopted
Resolved, That the Ministerial Union has
listened with deep interest to the address
of Mrs, Edholm on Social Purity, and that
we record and acknowledge our obligation
TO Cod and humanity in this behalf.
Smoke Sen Auben. SC. cigar; Grand
Royal, l0c cigar; big lot tohacco
at 25c. chewing aud smoking. DursteIn's
3 East Second street.